Rosemary Rogers, who was born on December 7, 1932, in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), is a renowned author of historical and romance fiction. She was born as Rosemary Jansz to Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz, and was raised in colonial splendor, with dozens of servants, no work, and summers at European spas. Rogers began writing at a young age, producing her first novel at the age of eight and writing madly romantic epics throughout her teens.
After rebelling against her feudal upbringing and studying at the University of Ceylon, Rogers took a job as a reporter and married Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The couple had two daughters, but the marriage ended in divorce after Navaratnam's infidelity. Rogers then moved to London with her two daughters, where she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an African-American. The couple married in St. Louis, Missouri, and had two sons, but the marriage ended in divorce six years later.
In the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, Rogers' parents fled the island, leaving her with two more dependents. At 37, Rogers was left to support four children on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. Despite these challenges, Rogers persevered and worked tirelessly on a manuscript she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. She eventually sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel, and "Sweet Savage Love" became a bestseller. Rogers went on to write several more bestselling novels, including "Dark Fires" and "Wicked Loving Lies," and became known as one of the "Avon Queens of Historical Romance."
Rogers was married three times, but as of late in her life, she was single and lived quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. She passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019, in Carmel, California, where she had called home since the early 1970s. Rogers will be remembered for her intense and popular historical romances, which have captivated readers for decades.