"I was left thinking 'well, what the heck am I going to do for the next year?'."
As he already had a "pretty good grasp" of grammar and English, Rogerson said he cold-called the Whanganui Chronicle after a friend had encouraged him to do so.
"Gary Mead, who was a pretty formidable guy, was the general manager back then, and I just went up and knocked on the door.
"He asked me why I thought I could be a journalist and threw out a bunch of current affairs questions, which luckily I managed to answer correctly and he said I might be what they were looking for.
"Mead said that journalism was a responsible job so it was a pretty well-paid gig, which I thought sounded pretty good.
"I went to see the news editor, Jim Thomson, and the first thing he told me was that there wasn't a lot of money in it for me.
"That was my introduction to journalism."
Rogerson said the media landscape in the early 1970s was "unrecognisable" compared to today.
David Rogerson at Kowhai Park in 1993, with the Whanganui Midweek team of Barrie Mitchell-Anyon (R), Megan La Hogue (waving, L,) and Judith Harris. Photo / Archive
"There's no comparison, really, and technology has certainly changed.
"I was 18 when I started at the Chronicle, and I decided to grow a beard in the hope of getting into the pub with the other guys that worked there.
"There was about 38 editorial staff back in those days, with journalists in Taihape and Marton, and part-timers would write about things from other remote spots on a 'per hundred words' type of pay.
"Undertakers called up to report the death notices and I'd put the headphones on and type out what they said after everyone else had gone home."
Rogerson said one of his fondest memories was interviewing musician Midge Marsden for more than three hours relying mostly on his memory of the conversation to write the article.
"Midge wanted to read the article the next time he came through Whanganui, and he was amazed I'd remembered everything we'd talked about."
The merging of councils in the Waimarino region in 1988 was another event that stood out Rogerson said.
"There was a lot of infighting and some significant opposition from residents in that area.
"There was a Raetihi Borough Council, an Ohakune Borough Council, and a Waimarino County Council, and I spent a week out of every month attending council meetings in that area, as well as going to the Ohakune Court."
Former editor of the Whanganui Chronicle, John Maslin, said Rogerson was "always good company".
"He worked as a sub-editor for a lot of his career and the guy had an incredible depth of general knowledge," Maslin said.
"In that regard, he's one the more learned people I've ever met, his memory is bloody encyclopedic really.
"In the job he was doing in the newspaper it was a godsend to have that kind of skill and knowledge.
"He could get a bit grumpy at times, but then again, we all could.
"Dave has a great sense of humour and was very, very good at what he did."
Rogerson, a guitarist, said that music had also been a major part of his life and that he would be playing a lot more of it "with a bit more time on my hands".
"I've met a hell a lot of people through the years because of music and the thing about playing music in any capacity means you have a greater appreciation of it and of the many different genres.
"I started a recording studio called Sasquatch in the early 1990s with the late Bert Whitcombe and that's sort of been in recess for the last eight years or so.
"I'm going to try and spend a bit more time in there now."
