Roger’s Biography

I wasn’t very interesting as a human being until high school when the power of words began to seep through a stodgy rural upbringing. In 9th grade, I helped spearhead the publication of an underground newspaper. The authorities wouldn’t have nabbed us had we not stolen the paper from the audio-visual department.

Soon I was playing the critical role of clubhouse lawyer at high school sports ball, and somewhat presciently, belonged to an extracurricular club called the Brew Crew.

In 1982, my university degree in philosophy somewhat inevitably landed me a plum job as a liquor store clerk, which serendipitously led to a decades-long career in beer, which continues at Pints&union, a pub in New Albany.

I’ve pissed away most of the subsequent income eating, drinking, and traveling. Regrets? I have a few, but then again, too few to mention.

From 1990 through 2018, I was one of three co-owners of the New Albanian Brewing Company, Pizzeria and Public House in New Albany, Indiana, pioneering better beer in Southern Indiana. My partners bought me out, although not before pizza-for-life was included.

Along the way, I’ve written about beer for Food & Dining Magazine (since 2005) and currently work as the digital editor at F&D, also contributing articles for the print quarterly. Time also was served as a columnist at the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO) and the former New Albany Tribune (now the Jeffersonville News and Tribune).

The culmination of my blogging career (NA Confidential, 2004 – 2020) came in 2015 when I mounted a doomed, insurgent campaign for mayor of New Albany as a Pants-Down Independent. My 492 votes (7%) cost far less than those cast for the candidates chosen by the two major parties, and not unexpectedly, the radical tone of my campaigning effectively severed whatever tenuous links that may remain with local polite society, placing me on double-secret probation, in exile, on Spring Street.

In short, money very well spent. As Groucho Marx understood, there’s no future in belonging to any club (or clique) that would consider having me as a member.

In summary: I’m a writer, reader, beer personality, polemicist, Europhile, socialist, cat person, and habitual pain in the ass. My wife Diana indulges these varied antics, and without her, I’d likely be nothing.

Enjoy reading and browsing. It’s a vanity project, after all.

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