The cause of death was complications from a rare lung disease, which was diagnosed Dec. 13, said his sister, Vanessa Kibbe. Mr. Anderson, who was born in San Diego and raised in El Cajon, cultivated an interest in music as a youth. As a student at El Cajon Valley High School in the mid-1960s, he played flute in a marching band at the Tournament of Roses Parade.

He later studied flute and music composition at San Diego State University. Eventually, though, Mr. Anderson's passion for poetry and literature prevailed. After enrolling at San Francisco State University, he earned a bachelor's degree in English and explored career opportunities in writing. Mr. Anderson's 17-year career in print journalism focused on popular culture and entertainment. He contributed free-lance articles to alternative weeklies nationwide, including the San Diego Reader.

He also wrote satirical celebrity news columns – first for The Seattle Times, and later for Scripps Howard. Before his death, he was working on two manuscripts, one on pop culture and the other on his family history – much of it focusing on his San Diego heritage. "Roger was smart and funny, and even in a business that can be cynical, he was optimistic and hopeful," said Peter Copeland, editor and general manager of Scripps Howard News Service.

In the 1980s, Mr. Anderson contributed free-lance articles on the literary scene to the Daily Californian in Berkeley. He became the paper's special sections editor in 1985 and its arts editor in 1986. He joined San Francisco magazine as associate editor in 1987, then left after a year to work as a copy editor at the San Francisco Examiner. He began his career with Scripps Howard in 1993 after stints at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was a features copy editor, and The Seattle Times, where he edited features and wrote a whimsical column titled "Seen, Hear, Said." Survivors include his wife of 12 years, Sandra Schneider, who is acting art director of The Washington Post Sunday magazine; and sister, Vanessa Kibbe of Tujunga.

Services are pending on the West Coast.

 

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