Lawrence "Stroker" Rogovin: Three Mile Man

AMC Outdoors, April 2004

By Katharine Wroth

First, let's address the obvious: why is Lawrence Rogovin known as "Stroker" to family, friends, and AMC acquaintances? The name graced a souvenir T-shirt from Hawaii, he explains. When he donned it while on the crew at AMC's Three Mile Island, the nickname stuck immediately — and eternally.

"It was probably no accident," muses the Arlington, Mass., resident. It's a conclusion that neatly sums up his connection with AMC. He joined the club with his family while in high school, enjoying a "slow immersion" of day hikes and camp visits. Three Mile, on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, lured him back for four summers on its crew during college in the late 1970s. He then spent six seasons on the construction crew at Pinkham Notch.

That job was "a good excuse to live in a great part of the country," he says, adding that it was also something more: the steppingstone to his career in custom cabinetry. While Rogovin, 48, has run his own business for 20 years, he continues to take on new roles with AMC. He serves on the Outdoor Leadership Development Committee and was recently elected chair of the OH Association, a group for hut-crew alums.

Conservation-minded, Rogovin volunteers on a local pond-protection committee. He is also "curator" of the Arlington Dog Museum — a collection of canine curiosities in his home — though he admits he doesn't own a dog. "Doesn't go with my lifestyle," says the frequent paddler, backpacker, skier, and globetrotter, who recently spent a month in Ecuador.

No matter how many miles he covers, all roads seem to lead back to the Three he knows best. He still organizes the camp's opening-weekend work parties; lends a hand with maintenance during the summer; and leads a volunteer work week each fall. He even edited a history of the island, compiled from the pages of Appalachia. "I know the buildings there like my own body," he reflects. "In this transient society, it's nice to know a place that well."

— Katharine Wroth is co-editor of AMC Outdoors.