RICHEY PIIPARINEN
ABOUT RICHEY PIIPARINEN
am a writer, researcher, and urban theorist who was born, raised, and based in Cleveland, Ohio. I moved to Chicago for a spell to get a graduate degree in clinical psychology, eventually honing in on a sociopsychological phenomenon called the “collective conscience”. This interdisciplinary training comprises a sizable chunk of how I conceptually approach the stabilization and revitalization of struggling cities, particularly those disembodied via the processes of economic restructuring. In discussing the crux of my work, the CBC producer, Mary O’Connell, described me as a “cultural writer who’s made the idea of the rust-belt his life’s work…using terms ‘like rust-belt fatalism’ and ‘rust-belt chic’ to frame both reinvention and what’s going on in the psyche of those who live in rust-belt cities.” In the decade plus of doing this work, I stand firm in my belief that just as individuals have a psyche, soul, and spirit—so do collections of individuals, i.e., cities. Much of this thinking is laid out in the book Octopus Hunting, released in December 2023 by Red Giant Books.
OCTOPUS HUNTING
From the publisher. “Octopus Hunting (Red Giant Books) is a mind-bending collection of new essays by Richey A. Piiparinen with illustrations by Liz Maugans. Piiparinen has crafted fourteen essays that traverse the economy of the Rust Belt and Cleveland, Ohio, from its past triumphs to its current struggles, explaining the issues confronting the region with laser wit and mounds of research. The book is also a memoir of Piiparinen's diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer known as “the terminator,” and his subsequent treatment. The two seemingly disparate themes are so expertly knitted together that his personal experiences deepen the economic discussion, and we never forget that when we talk about the rise and fall and rise again of cities and regions, we are really talking about the people who live in them.
Piiparinen has crafted a love song to the city where he was born, raised, and became an influential voice in the debate about the city’s future. Octopus Hunting represents his best thinking and hard-fought conclusions concerning a post-industrial economy and the traps that await a region that does not consider equity in the drive for progress. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know how a once dominant industrial region has been dismantled by deliberate policies, public relations, and a drive for lower wages or who want to be inspired by a clear-eyed prophet as he stares into his personal abyss.”
PUBLISHED ARTICLES + ESSAYS
'Smart Decline' Is Dumb
We don’t know the future. Rust Belt cities need to stop planning that there isn’t one.
Say yes to better health in Cuyahoga County: Richey Piiparinen
Not to be glum, but death is all around. Not figuratively, as in the existential hang-ups philosopher William James called “the worm at the core.” But literally.
The Inclusive Growth Problem
Can left-behind Rust Belt cities in the U.S. catch up to booming tech hubs without magnifying local economic disparities? So far, the evidence is mixed.
LATEST POSTS
What happened when alumnus Richey Piiparinen was diagnosed with brain cancer
Read the full article featured on Cleveland State Magazine: On ‘the razor’s edge of fighting for life while dying right’
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