For 100 years, the East Tennessean has been ETSU’s source for regional events and news, fostering a prominent community connection among its readers. For couple Mark and Amy Stevens, the East Tennessean functioned as their love connection – becoming the spark that would later ignite their relationship.
The Stevens’ story begins in Room 419 of Warf-Pickel Hall; it was there they first met, and Amy developed a crush on Mark. It was by chance their paths were allowed to cross.
Amy recounts that she was a younger student, starting at ETSU when she was just 16 years old, and that she ideally should not have been enrolled in the senior-level class in which she met Mark.
“I just thought he was the cutest little thing in the world,” Amy said. “I don’t think he noticed me for a very long time because I was just the kid that wasn’t even supposed to be in there.”
Amy did not let the age gap keep her from getting close to Mark. In fact, she would seek him out to ask for help when working on the word processors they had in the classroom.
“I would use it as an excuse to lean right up behind him because I was ‘learning things’,” Amy said. “But it was really just because I had a huge crush.”
Despite this maneuver, Mark was still clueless to Amy’s intentions.
“I thought, isn’t this wonderful,” Mark said. “This kid, she’s so dedicated to learning journalism.”
Before Mark and Amy graduated from ETSU in 1991 and 1993, both became significant contributors to the East Tennessean – a time of their lives that has since come to embody their memories of college.
Amy held multiple positions during her time at the East Tennessean, working her way up from reporter, news editor, managing editor and finally, executive editor. Likewise, Mark started as a managing editor and eventually became the executive editor in 1991.
Mark shared it was in the East Tennessean newsroom that he and Amy became friends, which would eventually spark a romantic relationship.
“I don’t know that we would be married without the East Tennessean,” Amy said. “That’s where … I finally got him to notice me.”
Mark and Amy would also go on to work with each other at the Johnson City Press, working from desks that were side by side.
Mark recalled how Amy excelled in the newsroom, always pushing the envelope for what stories she wanted to cover, which inspired him to work harder at the Press.
“I became a better writer because of her, because she sat right beside me,” Mark said. “It made me just say … you’ve [got to] up the showmanship here … you’ve [got to] be as equal to her.”
Eventually, Mark and Amy fell in love and got engaged while working at the Press, which led to Amy’s resignation there. At the time, the Press prohibited co-workers from being married, so Amy left to work at the Kingsport Times-News where she reported on the business of healthcare, which would soon become one of her passions.
Mark and Amy were married in April 1995 and they will celebrate 28 years of marriage this month.
Looking back, Mark and Amy are aware of how important the East Tennessean was to not only their relationship, but also their career paths.
“I’m very proud of the time that we spent at the East Tennessean,” Amy said. “It really put us both on a path for our professional success.”
Currently, Amy is the vice president of marketing and communications for Tidelands Health, the largest healthcare system in Georgetown County, South Carolina.
“The East Tennessean prepared me for my entire career,” Mark said. “Everything we learned there… [we] continued throughout our careers.”
Today, Mark is the director of tourism development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce in South Carolina. Prior to working in tourism, he spent nearly 25 years in the newspaper industry, serving as editors at newspapers in South Carolina and Louisiana and publisher of two Tennessee newspapers, The Erwin Record and the Elizabethton Star.
Mark and Amy’s relationship has traversed many levels, from being just classmates to eventually colleagues and friends, but throughout each they have always shared a common ground. Since both have backgrounds in journalism, both were able to provide guidance to the other throughout their career journeys.
“We’ve always been each other’s greatest advocate and possibly sometimes a critic,” Mark said. “I wouldn’t have accomplished [anything] without knowing her. She [has] helped me and changed me.”
Mark and Amy were both inducted into the Department of Communication Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009; Mark was inducted for journalism, and Amy was inducted for public relations.
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