Celebrity Roast

Posted

An evening of fun to benefit journalism education

Since 1990, the Mississippi Press Association has "roasted" Mississippi journalists, celebrities and politicians in good humor as a benefit for the MPA Education Foundation. Traditionally held each winter, the Foundation Roast has become a much-anticipated evening of frivolity and fundraising to assist the philanthropic endeavors of MPAEF.

Our roastmaster is Marshall Ramsey, editor-at-large of Mississippi Today and host of Now You're Talking on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, a past honoree of the event. Roastmaster-emeritus is Sid Salter, a past president of MPA and past chairman of the MPA Education Foundation, himself an honoree in 1999.

Honorees are presented with the S. Gale Denley Memorial Journalism Award, named for the longtime publisher of The Calhoun County Journal in Bruce, and a past president of MPA and member of its Hall of Fame.

Below is a list of individuals who've been the subject of barbs, witticisms and even a little bit of adulation as the honorees at past MPAEF roasts. Honorees are announced each fall in advance of the event and ticket sales begin in November.

Past MPAEF Roast Honorees

 

1990

The late W.C. "Dub" Shoemaker

Retired newspaper publisher

 

1991

Dr. Will Norton

journalist and educator

 

1992

The late U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran

R–Mississippi

 

1993

The late Jerry Clower

Comedian and entertainer

 

1996

The late Jim Buck Ross

longtime Agriculture Commissioner

 

1997

The late Bill Minor

Mississippi political columnist

 

1998

The late Philip Martin

Former Choctaw Tribal Chief

 

1999

Sid Salter

journalist

 

2000

Rick Cleveland

journalist

 

2001

The late U.S. Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery

D–Mississippi

 

2002

Justice Rueben Anderson

Retired MS Supreme Court Justice


2003

Retired U.S. Sen. Trent Lott

R–Mississippi

 

2004

Former Attorney General Mike Moore

D–Miss.

 

2005

Former Gov. Haley R. Barbour

R-Mississippi

 

2006

Former Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck

R–Mississippi

 

2007

Robert Khayat

Former Chancellor, University of Mississippi

 

2008

The late Anthony Topazi

Former CEO, Mississippi Power

 

2009

Former Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant

R–Mississippi

 

2010

Blake Wilson

Retired President, Mississippi Economic Council

 

2011

Mark Keenum

President, Mississippi State University

 

2012

Former Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

R–Mississippi

 

2013

Aubrey Patterson

Retired Chairman, BancorpSouth 

 

2014

Former Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann

R–Mississippi

 

2015

Former Gov. William Winter

D–Mississippi

 

2016
Former U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper
R–Mississippi

 

2017
Marshall Ramsey
Editorial Cartoonist & Author

 

2018
Former Attorney General Jim Hood
D–Mississippi

 

2019

Ronnie Agnew

Former Executive Director, Mississippi Public Broadcasting

 

2020

Wyatt Emmerich

Third-generation newspaper publisher

 

2022

Sen. Roger Wicker

R–Mississippi

 

2023

Jeff Good

Jackson businessman and restaurateur