Les Roka 2022Les Roka

I am a native of Toledo, Ohio, having received my Ph.D. in journalism and mass communication from Ohio University's Scripps School of Journalism in 2002. In addition to teaching at Utah State University and the University of Utah, I have worked extensively in public relations for a variety of organizations including a major metropolitan university, college of osteopathic medicine, and community college. When it comes to intellectual curiosity, I venture into as many areas as possible, whether it’s about music criticism, the history of journalism, the practice of public relations in a Web 2.0 world and the soon-to-arrive Web 3.0 landscape, or how public debates are formed about many issues especially in the political arena. As a Salt Lake City resident, I currently write and edit a blog called The Selective Echo that provides an entertaining, informative, and provocative look at Salt Lake City and its cosmopolitan best. I also have been the U.S. editorial advisor for an online publication Art Design Publicity based in The Netherlands. And, I use social media tools such as Twitter for blogging, networking with journalists and experts, and staying current on the latest trends in culture and news. I also have been a regular monthly contributor to a Utah business magazine, and I have recently conducted a variety of editing projects involving authors and researchers throughout the country and the world, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Lebanon, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. I’m also a classically trained musician who spent more than 15 years in a string quartet, being involved in more than 400 performances.

Backstage at Utah Arts Festival 2014: Making the best community space so art fans can unite at the 38th Utah Arts Festival

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In explaining how the staff, board, venue coordinators, volunteers, sponsors, and, most certainly, the participating performers and artists of the 38th annual Utah Arts Festival (UAF) design the spaces of Library Square and Washington Square so that art fans can unite, the metaphors of magnets and oysters, as Doug Borwick, a long-time arts administrator explains … Read more

Utah libraries: Summer reading programs and more

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Note: This post is by Mark Alvarez, a Salt Lake City lawyer, immigration specialist for Telemundo Utah and host of the ‘Sin Rodeos’ radio show. He also was a member of the Salt Lake City Public Library board from 2009 to 2012. “Fizz! Boom! Read!” is the summer reading program for children in libraries across … Read more

Rare, exceptional exhibit of Ernesto Edwards’ collages slated at Ken Sanders Rare Books

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Still in his twenties, Salt Lake City resident Ernesto Edwards made several trips to San Francisco and found his passion. In the city’s Mission District, the Berkeley Renaissance, one of the most vibrant offshoots of the Beat Movement, was gaining creative speed. Edwards, who had studied architecture at The University of Utah, met Robert Duncan, … Read more

‘And The Banned Played On’ a perfect coda to Plan-B Theatre’s memorable season

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One of Plan-B Theatre’s most distinctive strengths is to produce work that compacts so many compelling layers of insights, meanings, and epiphanies into narratives that quickly move within a frame often lasting no more than 70 or 80 minutes. With its latest edition of ‘And The Banned Played On,’ which played to a packed Jeanne … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s 24th season taps a record 7 world premieres by Utah playwrights

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NOTE: This is the final installment in a series about Plan-B Theatre’s 23rd season and forthcoming 24th season. Sensing the momentum of a nicely ripening Utah Enlightenment, Plan-B Theatre has slated a record seven world premieres of plays by Utah writers for the 2014-2015 season. The company’s 24th season departs from previous seasons in significant … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s ‘And The Banned Played On’ to focus on children’s literature

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NOTE: This is the second installment in a review of Plan-B Theatre’s 2013-2014 season. The final installment looks ahead to the company’s 24th season, which is slated to be the most extensive in Plan-B’s history. At the bottom of the post is a preview video. In the decade leading to 2000, the American Library Association’s … Read more

For Plan-B Theatre, ‘The Season of Eric’ is high point of artistic satisfaction for performers, audiences alike

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NOTE: This is the first of three installments about Plan-B Theatre’s season. The second installment will highlight the upcoming ‘And The Banned Played On’ event which will be held May 3 at The Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts. ‘So: the Season of Eric. And I’m Eric; apparently sufficiently known (or at least notorious) to … Read more

Notes from FanX 2014: Larpers behold! Ex Machina Films has a story for you

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A community college student eagerly aspires to be a writer despite a limited talent but he also fumbles in the real world because of his social awkwardness. He sees his tutor, a gifted graduate student whom he respects deeply, as the chosen hero of the prophecy from a game he plays as a member of … Read more

At Caffe d’bolla, the tao of coffee is always about pursuing beauty, perfection

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siphon brewer

Utah’s coffee culture is a work in progress, yet to approach anything close to critical mass despite a fairly respectable number of coffeehouses that, for the most part, have managed to sustain themselves. However, only a handful of cities throughout the United States can make a legitimate claim to a coffee culture that challenges and … Read more

Utah high school students try on surgeon’s skills at SAGES mini med school boot camp

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“A surgeon’s intellect is inversely proportional to the length of the incision.” – Albert Einstein Forgoing the traditional medical training model of “see one, do one, teach one,” and instead using video game exercises in a “Top Gun” interactive format, some two dozen surgeons from an international conference volunteered to help 100 Utah high school … Read more