Anna Traverse Fogle
CEO / Editor-in-chief
Anna is editor-in-chief of Memphis magazine and CEO of Contemporary Media, which publishes this magazine along with The Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, and others. She was raised in Midtown, left for school at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, and eventually found her way home. She now lives (with her husband, part-time stepson, and furry companions) just 1.7 miles from where she grew up.
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.
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
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.
Matthew J. Harris
Editorial Assistant
Matthew J. Harris joined Contemporary Media after graduating from Rhodes College in 2020. The former Texan also writes for the Memphis Flyer, where he covers crime, reproductive rights, and transportation. When he's not writing, Matthew enjoys cooking, day trips to the Memphis Zoo, and perusing used bookstores.
Jesse Davis
Contributing Editor
Jesse Davis is a contributing editor at Memphis magazine, and the book editor and chief copy editor for the Memphis Flyer. He is a Memphian by birth, though he has lived in other cities and towns across the Southern United States. His awards include a Green Eyeshade and an AAN Award, and his “Let’s Stay Together” story was included in The Bitter Southerner’s “Best 20 of 2020” series. He was raised by a library card and a box of cassette tapes, and he now lives in a converted attic in a creaky Midtown house with his rescue cat, Ampersand. He is the host of My Morning Mixtape on WEVL 89.9 FM.
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
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.
Julie Ray
Calendar Editor
Julie was born and raised in Memphis. She attended the University of Memphis and San Francisco State University. She loves Memphis and enjoys putting a positive focus on communities, events, and organizations in the Mid-South. She is on the board of the Woodruff-Fontaine House and has been a stakeholder in the Uptown area of Downtown Memphis since 1998. Julie curates our regular guides to "Five Things to Do This Weekend in Memphis."
Ashley Haeger
Controller
Ashley Haeger is the controller at Contemporary Media, Inc. (CMI). With a marketing degree from the University of Memphis and currently in pursuit of a master’s in business, Ashley also supports CMI in managing the social media platforms and other marketing and operational needs for each of the company’s legacy brands, including the Memphis Flyer, Inside Memphis Business, and Memphis Parent. She has been with CMI since 2010 and is a wife and mother to three sweet boys!
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.
Michelle Musolf .jpg)
Account Executive
Michelle, a Korean-American self-proclaimed military brat, spent most of her early childhood living in Japan and traveling among other military bases while learning the tremendous value of cultural diversity. Since her father's retirement from the Navy, Michelle has called Memphis home. She attended the University of Memphis and holds a BBA in management. Her main focus for the last several years has been solely on raising her two young sons and stepdaughter. Michelle joined Contemporary Media in early 2019 as an account executive and is excited about her "second act" in publishing, proving there is life beyond motherhood.
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.
Alex Greene
Contributor
Alex Greene is from Memphis, Nebraska. He's lived in the other Memphis for over 30 years, working as a cook, farmer, writer, musician, cultural anthropologist, and night watchman. In addition to contributing regular features to Memphis magazine, he is the music editor for the Memphis Flyer.
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.
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.
