Thomas Rogers, a giant in Latter-day Saint arts and letters, dies

06/28/2024 12:09 PM

Thomas F. Rogers was fascinated by the wrenching conflicts between personal conscience and institutional loyalty.

Rogers, a devout Latter-day Saint and English professor at Brigham Young University who burst onto Mormonism's literary scene in the 1970s with his play, "Hubener," died Monday. He was 91.

"Hubener" was based on the true story of Helmut Hubener, a 17-year-old Latter-day Saint in Germany who exposed Hitler's lies about the government's "criminal behavior" in 1942 by printing pamphlets of the truth. Others in the young man's Latter-day Saint congregation — notably the "branch president" — were Nazis and worried about how Hubener's actions may have affected the survival of their little church.

Indeed, the teen was later executed. The play centers on the interactions between Hubener, who felt compelled to oppose the Nazi regime, and the Latter-day Saint leader who "excommunicated" him for it.

"Hubener" played to sold-out audiences in 1976, according to Rogers' obituary. The play was translated into Russian, German, and Finnish, and was performed in the United States, Finland, Canada, and Russia at universities and in community theaters, high schools, churches, and professional theaters.

A few years later, Rogers followed this work with "Fire of the Mind," a literary treatment of another controversial episode in Mormon history — the role of John D. Lee in the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre. Lee was the only person who was ever executed for the heinous murder of scores of immigrants in 1957.

Rogers would eventually write and produce more than 30 plays, earning him a distinguished-service award from the Festival of Mormon Arts in 1988, where he was dubbed "the father of modern Mormon drama." He also received the Lifetime Service Award from the Association of Mormon Letters in 2002.

Rogers will be remembered for tackling tough topics and "controversial characters," said Margaret Young, former president of AML and a BYU literary colleague.

Playwriting, however, was hardly Rogers' only passion.

The indefatigable professor studied eight languages, with lengthy residences in Germany, Russia, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, Austria, India, Sweden, Syria and China.

The noted playwright, essayist, and scholar taught Russian at BYU from 1969 to 2000. He also served as director of the university's Honors Program in the 1970s.

Throughout his life, he was devoted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving it wherever he could.

As a young man, Rogers was a missionary from 1953 to 1958 in North Germany, where he grew to love East German members in Soviet-occupied Berlin "as the church's twentieth-century pioneer saints."

During his mission, Rogers was corresponding with a young woman he had met in college, Merriam Dickson. He proposed in a letter and they were married nine days after his return.

He would later earn a doctorate in Russian language and literature from Georgetown University before joining the BYU faculty.

Flash forward nearly four decades, Rogers with his wife were called as Latter-day Saint mission leaders in the Russia St. Petersburg mission from 1993 to 1996.

"He tried never to let the letter of the law interfere with the spirit of the law, even though he sometimes got flack for his approach of 'asking forgiveness rather than permission,'" said Chad H. Smith, who served as one of Roger's missionary assistants. "He found unusual ways to empower sister missionaries, and to share authority within companionships. He promoted flexibility in the presentation of principles from what were then fairly rigid and standardized discussions."

At a time when many Latter-day Saint mission presidents did not allow their charges to be too involved with the local society, Smith said, Rogers instituted "culture nights" — a once-a-month opportunity for missionaries to go to an event like the opera, ballet or symphony.

"He encouraged missionaries to visit the Hermitage and Russian Museum," Smith said. "He wrote and produced our own cultural events as opportunities to share with church members, missionaries and the general public. Among these events were a play of 'The Brothers Karamazov' and a Christmas cantata."

Smith said Rogers allowed missionaries one night a year when they could stay up past their curfew during the "White Nights" — an annual summer festival St. Petersburg — and "wander the canals and squares of the city as it remained light until after midnight."

The church "is certainly better off for Rogers' influence," Smith said, "as a leader, defender, agitator, free thinker and true believer."

The Russian expert's work included an award-winning volume of essays, plays, and even paintings, BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Studies said in a statement, adding that it all came "with a focus on the unifying and healing power of the gospel, especially in the face of profound adversity, injustice, and perplexity."

Rogers "raised his voice for faith in times of doubt and for charity in place of prejudice," the institute wrote. "His legacy will continue in the generations of students whom he influenced, [and] the wisdom of the writings he left to us."

He also left a large posterity (his wife preceded him in death) — seven children, 42 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, with the 22nd due next week.

The 91-year-old was looking forward to the August publication of his final work, "Desperate Measures," a novel based on the lives of several of his ancestors.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at the Bountiful 15th Ward building located at 1250 S. Main Street in Bountiful. Viewings will take place in the same location from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Saturday.