window as he carefully arranged his words , wondering when the rain would stop – it seems it was always raining in his part of Hawkes Bay . And Rog pondering , eternally , when it would be okay for him to enjoy a drink again . And the more Rog went about puncturing such romantic images , the more they seemed real . Rog wrote , seemingly , from the edge of civilisation . In Rog ’ s prose , Hawkes Bay was that forgotten outpost . He paid astute attention to events in the rest of the world – he was educated but never opinionated – but the world didn ’ t care about Hawkes Bay . My favourite memory of Rog in person was when he joined the KR team for a Manfeild ( how I love that it isn ’ t spelt Manfield ) endurance race , in 2001 I think it was . I was in spectacular form : crashing , freaking out , riding slow , then riding surprisingly fast ( it helped that the brakes had run out of friction material ) – yo-yo ’ ing through the weekend . But I recall Rog , and our other contributor at the time , Mike Nash , serenely attending to my and my super co-rider Todd Sutherland ’ s every need . The pair loved the vibe , loved being part of the game . And I recall Rog and Nash did it all with a sense of decorum , they were there , they were up to their necks in it , but never grandstanding , never looking for the limelight . Rog was almost fatherly , he watched with benevolent eyes . He saw everything , and good or bad ( I was often bad ) he just smiled and soaked it in – happy in sharing . Yes , Rog was my reporter on the edge of the Earth , where it seemed nothing of worldly importance ever actually came to happen . Maybe that was his unique perspective . So , while mostly I knew him only through his KR column – not as the family man he was , not as the career journalist – he struck a chord , he evoked images of life that were ordinary yet extraordinary , that will always stay with me . Like I said , Rog should not be gone .
Pete ‘ Vege ’ McPhee - Kiwi Rider Publisher My first meeting with Roger was in 1986 at a Honda launch in Auckland . In those days new model launches were a big deal ; journalists were flown in from all over the country and one or two nights of dining and drinking was the norm . Roger and I enjoyed more than a few cold beers and then , when the bar was closing , we grabbed a few more bottles and went to watch Easy Rider on TV . I don ’ t remember much after that , but the next day was a very tough one . Roger liked drinking a lot . Over the next 35 years we would bump into each other at launches and road race meetings ,
Honda Kumamoto factory 1982 - Roger M back row in green shirt
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