For the past 40 months, Robb Frederick has been doling out tantalizing glimpses of the best of Erie, Pa., in his popular weekly feature, "You haven't lived here if you haven't..."

He filled in the dotted lines today (the feature runs every Monday in the Erie Times-News)by describing the duckpin bowling lanes at the Erie Maennerchor Club, an old German social club near downtown. A gifted writer, Frederick is skilled at describing the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that make this region special.

That fact that he's a Pittsburgh native gives Robb a unique perspective on what might be a rare treat here, but could go undiscovered or unappreciated by the locals. Often, I've read about something he's featured in "You Haven't Lived," and thought, wow, I haven't done that for a long time.

Frederick often focuses on signature dishes at local restaurants, special drinks at popular bars, historical facts or features, or stuff that's just a lot of fun. It always seems to strike a chord with readers.

You haven't lived enjoys a wide audience, I'm convinced, for two reasons. First, Robb has a knack for selecting the right topics, and he also knows how to describe them. The feature is brief and to the point, so there's not a lot of space for embellishment. That works to Frederick's advantage, as he usually chooses his words with great economy.

"I try to thing of things that, if somebody was visiting from out of town, these are the things you might want to take your visitors to see or experience," Robb said. It's what led him to find an out-of-the-way neighborhood restaurant, instead of gravitating toward one of the big franchise places on Peach Street.

You haven't lived always strikes me as one of Erie's little pleasures, and, after concluding Robb's feature, I often think, "You haven't lived here if you haven't read you haven't lived here."

-- Kevin Cuneo

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