 Roberts is most known for presiding over "The Inquirer"'s "Golden Age", a time in which the newspaper was given increased freedom and resources, won 17 Pulitzer Prizes in 18 years, displaced "The Philadelphia Bulletin" as the city's "paper of record", and was considered to be Knight Ridder's crown jewel as a profitable enterprise and an influential regional paper.Roberts was born in Pikeville in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Area.He grew up in North Carolina and worked for newspapers in Goldsboro, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Detroit.