Anna Traverse
CEO / Editor-in-chief
Anna is editor-in-chief of Memphis Magazine and CEO of Contemporary Media, which publishes the magazine along with the Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, and others. She was raised in Memphis, left for college and grad school (Johns Hopkins, Harvard), and eventually (accidentally) found her way home. She now lives in Midtown and is passionate about telling the stories of Memphis.
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 Alumni 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.
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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.
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Senior Editor
Shara Clark is a senior editor of Memphis magazine, editor of Memphis Parent, and managing editor of the Memphis Flyer. SHe 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 a senior editor of Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business, 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.
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.
Samuel X. Cicci
Senior Editor
Samuel X. Cicci is editor of Inside Memphis Business, and a senior editor of Memphis magazine. 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.
Abigail Morici
Associate Editor
Abigail Morici is an associate editor for Memphis magazine and the calendar and copy editor for the Memphis Flyer. She writes on a variety of topics, but you won't catch her writing about sports. You can, however, read her weekly "Five Things to Do in Memphis This Weekend" on this very website. Originally from New Orleans, Abigail graduated from Rhodes College in 2021 and now mostly hangs around with her dog Blobby. (Yes, his name is Blobby, and no, he doesn't look like a blob.)
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Contributing Editor
Bruce VanWyngarden retired in 2021 after serving as the editor of the Memphis Flyer for 20 years. He continues to write for both the Flyer and Memphis magazine. A collection of his writings for those publications, Everything That's True, was published by Contemporary Media in November 2021.
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.
Vance Lauderdale
Contributing Editor / 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.
Jeffrey Goldberg
Chief Revenue Officer
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.
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Senior Account Executive
Patrick is a recent transplant to the Bluff City from Denver, Colorado by way of Phoenix, Arizona. He is quickly adapting to the Mid-South culture and is loving the Memphis charm, food, music, community, and deep American history. Patrick enjoys time with his family, spending weekends at his lake house in Cherokee Village, Arkansas, and his three miniature schnauzer fur babies. With over 25 years of combined print and digital advertising, event sponsorships, and sponsored content experience, he values his time with his clients and learning about their business to help them thrive.
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Circulation Coordinator
Mariah is a Memphian by birth who has lived all over the country, from Ohio to California. She was raised in Michigan and currently lives in Cordova, with her husband four fur babies. She has future dreams to open a pet sanctuary for stray cats and dogs.
Alex Greene
Contributor
Composer/writer Alex Greene grew up near Memphis, Nebraska, relocating to the Bluff City in 1988. Since then, he's played keyboards for some of the city's best bands and has published scholarly writings in cultural anthropology and popular writings on music, science, and environmental issues.
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Contributor at Large
Chris McCoy is a writer, director, and producer from Memphis. He writes about homes, travel, science, personalities, and other interesting topics for Memphis magazine. He is the film/TV editor for the Memphis Flyer, where he writes a weekly media criticism column and creates cover stories on pressing topics in the Bluff City. He has directed three feature films and won numerous awards from Indie Memphis and other film festivals. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kenneth Neill
Publisher Emeritus
Kenneth Neill is publisher emeritus 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.
