(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Managing Editor Mark Rogers.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born on March 28, 1963, in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio in 1981. Then I went onto college at Kent State University and graduated in December 1985 with a degree in photojournalism.
Q: Where all have you lived?
A: I’ve lived in several places in Ohio, several places in Pennsylvania, several towns in Michigan and Buffalo, N.Y. The most interesting place I lived was in Shiraz, Iran as a kid. My dad was teaching at a university there. I moved to Mississippi about 10 years ago and lived in Greenville for a little while then moved to Columbia in 2009.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I get to do a little bit of everything as the managing editor of The Columbian-Progress. I do everything from covering city, county and school board meetings to cops and courts things. You might see me at a fire or a ball game. I also write features, design pages and edit copy.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: It’s one of those things I always wanted to do. I picked up a camera when I was about 6 years old and thought it was kind of fun. I wasn’t like most kids taking pictures of friends goofing around. I actually asked my mom when we went down to the drug store if I could go to the bridge downtown and take pictures off the bridge of a derailed train. She knew I was a little different then. It just carried on. I was on the yearbook staff and started working for newspapers before I graduated high school. I worked on the college paper, did several internships in college and worked part-time at a couple of daily and weekly papers while I was in college. It just led to continually doing things. I started out as a staff photographer and somehow worked my way around onto the writing side. From there, it ended up with me being an assistant editor and managing editor at several papers.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I like meeting people. I love to get out and see folks, whether it’s little kids at a play at one of the elementary schools or getting to meet people at a board meeting.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I sold hot dogs in the stands for football games at Kent State University when I was 14 years old and did that for a few years.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: My dad, A. Robert Rogers, was one of them. My dad passed away when I was young, 22 years old, and working for the Buffalo News. He was the guy that showed me you could work hard and still be there for your family. He was always working on a project as a university professor, and he wrote textbooks but was also on all the church committees, involved in the community and still had time for mom, Rhoda, and I to go explore places and try new things.
Q: If you could relive one day from your life, what day would you choose?
A: I really would like to relive my wedding day to Amelia. We had the most fun. My late wife and I were married on the Steamboat Natchez in New Orleans, and we were surrounded by our closest friends and family. We had a ball. We walked through the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street after our wedding and just had a good time. We enjoyed food, enjoyed each other and laughed a lot. It was one of the best days of my life.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have a son, Brian, who is 21. He is a business administration major at Mississippi College, and he is graduating in May.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: I love food and that’s kind of an understatement. One of the top things on my list is a steak from Doe’s Eat Place in Greenville. It is a two-inch cut of steak that is one of the most fabulous things you’ll put in your mouth.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I’d like to go back to Iran. I lived there when I was 12 and 13 and would love to go back to see the changes in the country. It was fascinating. I got to travel to Iran to Israel to England to Germany — I was very fortunate as a kid and would love to go back and see those places.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: One of the things I love to do the most is my friend Brandi Perry and I have founded a blog and social media called Backroads and Burgers. Along with our friends, Jeni Sutherland and my late wife, we traveled around just finding good places to eat, exploring historical sites and meeting folks and telling their stories. Even since Amelia’s death, we’ve been out on the road exploring places everywhere from Natchez to the Coast to Vicksburg, just sort of all around checking out things.
Q: What do you enjoy about living and working in Columbia and Marion County?
A: I really like the people. Columbia has become home to me. The folks here have really adopted me. We jokingly said my late wife was Little Miss Columbia. The support I’ve received in this town working at the newspaper from my late wife’s friends and the friends I’ve made makes it such a great place to live. There are so many great things happening in Columbia, and I’m glad to be a part of them and glad my friends are a part of them.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: There are a couple people. I’ve always been curious about Theodore Roosevelt because he was kind of the mascot of my high school. We were Teddy Roosevelt’s Roughriders, and I always thought he seemed like a no-nonsense president and knowing his history with Mississippi and how the teddy bear came from Onward, Miss., I think it would be cool to do that. Also, having lost several people in my life along with my wife recently, I’d love to sit down and have lunch with my mom and dad and my late wife to catch up with them.
Q: Would you rather read a good book or watch a good movie and why?
A: I like to read a good book. I’ve got a couple of old classics sitting around that I’d like to take the time to sit down and read. Some of the things we read in school like “Catcher in the Rye,” I like to disappear in a good book like that.
Q: What would be the No. 1 thing on your Bucket List?
A: I want to take a train trip from Toronto to Vancouver, British Columbia and go through the Canadian Rockies and spend like a month doing that. My dad was Canadian and I’ve always wanted to learn more about Canada. I spent my time growing up visiting relatives in Canada. My cousin Andrew lives in Vancouver and the pictures I’ve seen of sunsets there are stunning. So I want to take a train out there and hang out with my cousin.
Q: If you could describe your morals in three words, what would they be?
A: Being a journalist, integrity is one of the most important things, so integrity, honesty and sympathy.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I want people to remember me as a good friend and a guy who enjoyed life and enjoyed doing things with his family and friends. Maybe somewhere along the way in my newspaper career I made a difference along the way, and I’d like to be remembered for that.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: The Columbian-Progress’ Managing Editor Mark Rogers takes a photo on Main Street. in downtown Columbia. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
