Their Calling
When Victoria Steele Logue (’84) and the Rev. Frank Logue (’84) stepped onto the Georgia Southern campus in the 1980s, little did they know they were starting down a lifetime path of adventure—one with a number of twists and turns along the way. In 35 years, they’ve traveled to exotic destinations around the globe, captured them on film, written about them in books, reinvented themselves in new careers and done their best to make a positive impact in the world.
Let’s go back to the beginning. Foreshadowing what was to come, it was a love of foreign language that brought them together. They met in a class taught by one of their favorite professors, the late Lowell Bouma, former chair of the University’s Department of Foreign Languages.
“Professor Bouma would often tell me, ‘I have someone I want you to meet,’ and it was Victoria,” said Frank, who studied linguistics and German under Bouma.
Victoria admits that she didn’t like Frank at first. “He would say things to me in German and everyone in class would stare at me,” she said. “I didn’t want the attention because I was so shy.”
“Still, it didn’t take us long to become friends,” Frank added. Frank, who grew up in Marietta, Georgia, was a busy college student and photographer, working for The George-Anne, the Reflector, the college’s public relations department and the Statesboro Herald.
Victoria, a Navy officer’s daughter, lived in different states growing up, but she had longstanding ties to Georgia and Georgia Southern. She can trace her Georgia ancestry to before the Revolutionary War, and her mother, Laura Campbell (‘75) is a University alumna. Victoria’s grandfather, Lawrence Kelly, was a professor at Georgia Southern, and her grandmother, Hulda Kelly, volunteered in the genealogy department of the Statesboro Regional Library and edited two volumes for the Bulloch County Historical Society.
Victoria wanted to be a writer, but was terrified of failing at something she loved and decided to major in geology and German. “Apparently, I was meant to write, though. My first job after graduation was as a staff writer for the Daily Sun in Warner Robins, Georgia,” she chuckles.
The couple married a year after graduating and embarked on a two-month honeymoon exploring Nepal, its Hindu Temples and towering Himalayas. In 1988, they hiked the entire 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, a six-month trek. “What always stands out are the postcard moments, then the perseverance moments such as enduring eight days backpacking in the rain,” Frank recalled.
The next step on their life journey came a few years later when Frank and Victoria decided to combine their traveling passion and profession. They became full-time freelance writer-photographers and the globetrotters published their first book, The Appalachian Trail Hiker, based on their own experiences. Six more travel books followed, as well as countless magazine and newspaper articles by the award-winning pair.
In 1995, Frank decided to set out in another new direction and answer a lifelong call to the ministry. By 2000, he’d earned a Master of Divinity, and set out to start the King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland, Georgia, with the help of Victoria and their daughter Griffin. After 10 years, the family moved to Savannah, when the Rev. Logue was named the assistant to the Episcopal Bishop of Georgia. His official title is “Canon to the Ordinary,” which inspired his blog, “The Loose Canon”, where his writing and photography reflect spiritual topics.
Victoria also set out on a changed path – writing fiction. She’s currently working on her second novel. “My love of the outdoors and history are the inspiration for my nonfiction books,” she said. “History and the supernatural inspire my fiction. And spirituality usually finds its way into my blog.”
This spring, the couple’s shared spirituality brought them back together on a very different kind of writing and photography pilgrimage. In March, they traveled to Rwanda and Kenya to document the plight of refugees fleeing from violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“When I look to my life and my life with Victoria,” said Frank, “the through-line is that we have followed our interests and passions. While many externals have changed, both of us have spent all the years since college working to communicate through our writing and photography. We’ve remained interested in seeing new things and learning more and then sharing those experiences with others.” – Sandra Bennett