Kenneth Neill
Publisher / Editor
Kenneth Neill is publisher/editor of Memphis magazine, as well as founding publisher of the Memphis Flyer and the emeritus CEO of Contemporary Media, Inc. A native of Boston, he is a graduate of Yale University (BA) and Trinity College, Dublin (MEd). He taught high school in Ireland for seven years, where he also authored world-history texts for Irish secondary schools. Neill has been associated with Memphis magazine since 1978. Under his stewardship, Memphis magazine has won over a hundred national awards for editorial and design excellence. He is a former president (1992-94) of the City and Regional Magazine Association.
Anna Traverse
Chief Executive Officer
Anna Traverse is chief executive officer of Contemporary Media, the parent company of Memphis magazine, the Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, and Inside Memphis Business. An escaped academic (Johns Hopkins BA, Harvard AM), she now writes about Memphis characters, crannies & nooks, & canines: Lily Bear, her dog, has appeared in Memphis four times (and counting).
Michael Finger
Executive Editor
Michael Finger is executive editor of Memphis magazine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis, where he was the recipient of the Charles Thornton Outstanding Journalism Award, and a master’s degree from LSU. The author of five books on local history, his work has appeared in The New York Times, American Archaeology, Green Tea Journal, Atlanta magazine, Mississippi magazine, and Baltimore magazine. The real prize? A tiny trophy for perfect attendance from the Sea Isle Elementary School Safety Patrol.
Frank Murtaugh
Managing Editor
Frank Murtaugh has been with Memphis magazine since 1992 and managing editor since 1995. Frank also covers sports for the Memphis Flyer, for whom he writes a weekly web column (“From My Seat”) and covers University of Memphis sports. His novel, Trey’s Company, was published in 2017. Frank has written on a variety of topics, from imperial tombs (in China) to ostrich farms (in Millington). His "Last Stand" essays in the magazine have earned a pair of Green Eyeshade Awards.
Shara Clark.jpg)
Senior Editor
As senior editor of Memphis magazine, Shara Clark writes about people, places, and things that have made a mark in the Bluff City. A Mississippi Delta transplant whose roots have been firmly fixed in Memphis for more than a decade, she aims to reach the heart of every story she helps tell.
Jon W. Sparks
Senior Editor
Jon W. Sparks is editor of Inside Memphis Business, a senior editor of Memphis magazine, and contributes to the Memphis Flyer. He’s been covering arts, business, government, and Elvis in Memphis and the Mid-South since 1981 for various publications.
Samuel X. Cicci
Associate Editor
Samuel X. Cicci is an associate editor at Memphis magazine, as well as Inside Memphis Business. A Rhodes College graduate and New Mexico transplant, he covers business, culture, and events in the hopes of eventually figuring out Southern culture. An obsessive soccer fan, Sam usually wakes up at 6am on Saturdays to watch his favorite European teams play in England and Spain.
Anne Cunningham O'Neill
Arts & Lifestyle Editor
A graduate of The Hutchison School and Vassar College '70, Anne worked for the BBC in London and for the United Nations in NYC for 25 years as an editor/writer. Back in Memphis in 2004, she was communications director of ArtsMemphis and editor of 4Memphis magazine prior to joining Memphis magazine, where she is the arts and lifestyle editor.
Pamela Denney
Food Editor
As food editor for Memphis magazine, Pamela Denney has the enviable job of exploring the city’s vibrant food culture. Initially a reluctant cook, Pam embraced her own kitchen after connecting with local farmers and planting a vegetable garden in her East Memphis backyard. Pam also is a journalism professor at the University of Memphis and the author of The Food Lovers’ Guide to Memphis. Follow her on social media @memphis_stew.
Michael Donahue
Contributing Editor
Michael Donahue began his career in 1975 at the now-defunct Memphis Press-Scimitar and moved to The Commercial Appeal in 1984, where he wrote about food and dining, music, and covered social events until early 2017. He has received Hall of Fame and Distinguished Graduate honors from his alma maters, Christian Brothers High School and the University of Memphis. Donahue now writes for Memphis magazine, the Memphis Flyer, and Inside Memphis Business.
Brian Groppe
Creative Director
Brian Groppe is creative director for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. He previously served as senior design director / photo editor for Towery Publishing’s Urban Tapestry Series of city photojournals. The recipient of numerous regional and national awards, he holds a BFA in graphic design from California College of the Arts.
Britt Ervin
Email Marketing Manager
Britt Ervin has been with Contemporary Media Inc. since 2007, joining the sales and marketing team shortly after graduating from Rhodes College. She moved to Bellingham, WA, in the spring of 2016, but has remained Email Marketing Director for all publications of CMI. She loves life on the West Coast with her husband, toddler daughter, and dog, but is thankful to always call Memphis home! And is thankful for friends who regularly ship bottles of her favorite BBQ sauce.
Julie Ray
Circulation Manager
Julie Ray was content to skate through life on her good looks. Unfortunately, an education, hard work, and a personality were deemed necessary as well. It was exhausting! She attended Memphis State University and San Francisco State University. Prior to joining CMi in 2012 as calendar/listings editor for the Memphis Flyer, she had been an entrepreneur, auditor, hotel and retail manager, writer, and editor. Highlights of her work in the community include DNA board member, DMC design review board secretary, and founding board member of MFM. In 2018, she began managing circulation for Memphis magazine while also scribing the Five Things to Do This Weekend in Memphis weekly post.
Justin Fox Burks
Contributing Photographer
Justin Fox Burks has been a professional photographer for 20 years, but that’s not all. He photographed and co-authored two vegetarian cookbooks, The Southern Vegetarian: 100 Down-Home Recipes For the Modern Table (Thomas Nelson, 2013) and The Chubby Vegetarian: 100 Inspired Vegetable Recipes for the Modern Table (Susan Schadt Press, 2016). He feels fortunate to be able to make interesting images for a living.
Brandon Dill
Contributing Photographer
Brandon Dill has found a home in Memphis. When not planning road trips with his wife, or building blanket forts with his two daughters, he likes to take pictures. His photographs appear in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Associated Press, Getty Images, European Pressphoto Agency, and elsewhere.
Ziggy Mack
Contributing Photographer
Ziggy Mack is a photographer about town. When not immortalizing the movements of ballerinas, circus performers, and mermaids, he spends his time finding the devil within the details of stylish people. Among his other endeavors, Ziggy spots and photographs the sartorial storytellers featured in Memphis magazine's regular Street Style galleries.
Karen Pulfer-Focht
Contributing Photographer
Karen brings documentary-style photojournalism to whatever assignment she is on. An award-winning photojournalist and former staff photographer for The Commercial Appeal (1988-2014), her work is regularly published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Karen got her start at newspapers near her hometown of Chicago.
Chip Pankey
Contributing Photographer
Chip has been making photographs worth looking at for over 30 years. His photos for the Redbirds Foundation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau have all received national awards. His personal work can be found in the permanent collections of the Amon Carter Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the California Institute of Technology.
Vance Lauderdale
History Columnist
Vance Lauderdale is the resident historian at Contemporary Media. Although his main interests are sleeping, napping, and dozing, he somehow put together two volumes of Ask Vance: The Best Questions and Answers from Memphis Magazine’s History and Trivia Expert (the first one inexplicably proclaimed “Best Book” by the Shelby County Historical Society) along with three smaller compilations and an assortment of wall calendars that have proved handy for prisoners.
Chris McCoy.jpg)
Contributor
McCoy is a writer, director, and producer from Memphis. Working under the name C. Scott McCoy, he has written and directed three feature films, and won five directing awards from Indie Memphis. He is currently the film/TV editor for the Memphis Flyer, and writes media criticism, travel, science, profiles, and general interest articles for Memphis magazine. Along with his wife, Laura Jean Hocking, he is the co-owner of Oddly Buoyant Productions, which creates film and video projects and offers media consulting services.
Jeffrey Goldberg
Director of Business Development
A native New Yorker, Jeffrey Golderg was an advertising sales executive at Condé Nast in New York, NY, prior to moving to Memphis in 1990, where he was employed as the advertising director of Memphis magazine. He became associate publisher / sales director of Contemporary Media (the parent company of Memphis magazine, which also publishes the Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, and Inside Memphis Business) in 1992. He is currently the director of business development at Contemporary Media. Jeffrey also serves as president of the Herb Kosten Foundation, among other board memberships and professional association positions.
Sloane Patteson Taylor
Senior Account Executive
Sloane is a native Memphian whose roots run deep. A graduate of White Station High School, she attended Southern Methodist University and graduated from the University of Memphis. Sloane has spent 30 terrific years in publishing, with over 20 of those years at Contemporary Media. She works with most of the publications including Memphis magazine, Go! Germantown, Collierville, Inside Memphis Business, and the Memphis Flyer. She has two children and two grandchildren. Sloane’s clients appreciate her availability, work ethic, and ambition.
Kayla White
Account Executive
Kayla White received a bachelor of science degree in fashion merchandising from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a master of science degree in retail and business operations from Framingham State University. While completing her education, Kayla worked in multiple marketing roles in El Paso, Texas. Soon after graduating, she made the move to Memphis to become a sales account executive for Memphis magazine. While settling into Memphis, Kayla has made it her main goal to assist all of her clients with their branding needs.
Jacob Woloshin.jpg)
Account Executive
Jacob is a lifelong Memphian who graduated from the University of Memphis in 2017 with a degree in broadcast journalism. He has been working as an account executive with Memphis magazine since July 2017 and is passionate about expanding the brands and marketing of local businesses here in the city and around the Mid-South.
