- NAME
- Marques G. Harper
- AGE
- 28
- POSITION
- Features staff writer
- GREW UP IN
- Westampton, N.J., not to be confused with West Hampton, N.Y. -- as in the Hamptons.
- BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW
- I spent a chunk of 1998-2000 going to dance clubs to do book research for a now-abandoned novel. Often I give people (co-workers, friends, strangers) makeovers in my head. I always buy a new Madonna album on the very first day it's released no matter what. (This habit started in 1992 with the release of "Erotica." )
- WHEN HE'S NOT WORKING
- Watching movies and television, looking for cool furniture, working out, doing yoga and pilates, traveling to new places or old favorites, watching people, reading about celebrity magazines, reading books and non-celebrity magazines, gathering material for my book ideas, shopping for designer gear, dining at cool restaurants and having great cocktails.
- LAST BOOK READ
- Augusten Borrough's "Magical Thinking" (I'm a chunk of the way in.)
- FAVORITE STORY YOU'VE COVERED
- Many of the stories I wrote when I was an intern at The Oregonian. In the summer of 1999, I wrote about the doll lady, loft apartments in an industrial zone, a corner store that never re-opened as planned, the influence of Indian culture, and Pokemon.
- BIGGEST CELEBRITY I'VE EVER INTERVIEWED
- Ellen DeGeneres, Joan Rivers and Jay McCarroll (winner of "Project Runway" )
- FAVORITE ACT TO SEE IN CONCERT
- Madonna. I've seen Mrs. Ritchie in concert four times and I'm always amazed. The first time was in October of 1993 in Philadelphia, one of a few North American stops on her Girlie Show World Tour. I was in high school at the time and had a state-mandated test, perhaps, the HSPT or something, the morning after the show. I last saw Madonna on July 4, 2004, in Philadelphia during the Re-Invention World Tour.
- FAVORITE THING TO DO IN ROANOKE
- Getting myself lost. Finding new restaurants and shops. Taking in the beautiful setting and the mountains.
- WHAT'S YOUR SIGN
- Virgo
- THE NEXT PLACE YOU'D LIKE TO VISIT
- I'd like to spend more time traveling in North America. I'd love to go to Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Austin and Toronto. I'd love to spend time at the beach. Internationally speaking, I'd like to return to Paris, and I'd definitely like to go to Tokyo and see the Harajuku girls.
- BEST DESSERT I'VE EVER HAD
- A strawberry and custard tart from a little bakery in Paris. I've been looking for the next best thing ever since. I love cupcakes from Billy's Bakery in New York.
- FAVORITE DESIGNERS/LABELS
- John Varvatos, Burberry, DKNY, Gucci, Prada, Kenneth Cole, Ben Sherman