I blundered into the newspaper racket at a time when practically anybody with a pulse and a vocabulary in triple digits could get a job.
I barely could type my name, never had taken a journalism course, but I was willing to work for $120 a week (pretax) as long as they let me write news stories like novellas.
They did and I did and the rest was a happy tale interrupted periodically by a fit of principle — mine or theirs — or an offense-taking by a publisher or his wife.
—Jeff Smith, Tucson Citizen, Dec. 28, 2007
When I was a young paperboy folding my copies of the Tucson Citizen after I got home from school each day, I always scanned the paper to find Jeff Smith’s column. It was lightning in print, the kind of writing that leapt off the page and into your imagination. He was funny and irreverent and he raised hell.
I never imagined back in those days that I’d one day have the privilege of working with Smith at the Tucson Weekly. And I certainly never imagined I’d one day be writing Smith’s obit.
But here I am, saddened to report that one of Arizona’s journalistic legends has passed away. He was 67.
Details on Smith’s passing are sketchy as I write this, but his ex-wife, Barbara Smith, told me this afternoon that Jeff passed away sometime over the weekend.
As Barbara understands it, “He just sort of went to sleep. I think it was peaceful for him.”
Although they were divorced, Barbara remained friends with Jeff and said earlier today that in recent years, they had spoken almost daily.
Smith loved many things in life: His kids, Liza and Caleb. Motorcycles. Horses. Hard work. Cormac McCarthy. And, of course, guns.
Mark Kimble, a longtime friend and Smith’s editor at the Tucson Citizen, remembers that he was concerned after a New Mexico motorcycle accident left Smith in a wheelchair.
“After his motorcycle accident, I was quite worried about what would become of him,” Kimble says. “But he was basically the same energetic, enthusiastic person he was before. As he always said, he was just a few feet shorter.”
Kimble calls Smith “an extremely gifted writer.”
“He loved Southern Arizona very much and that’s what he wanted to write about more than anything,” Kimble says. “He had a house that he built, mostly by hand, himself, in Patagonia, out in the middle of nowhere, and he was happiest just being there.”
Former Tucson Weekly editor and publisher Doug Biggers, who hired Smith as a columnist in the mid-’80s, calls Smith “one of the best writers the Weekly ever published.”
“He was a legend in Tucson journalism,” Biggers says.
We’ll have more on Smith in the days to come, but you can peruse his Tucson Weekly columns here and his Tucson Citizen columns here.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.
I remember when he had his accident. He was pretty young and loved riding fast.
When I was a student at the UA working at the Daily Wildcat he wheeled in one day to talk to us about journalism. He took a good look around and said he liked what he saw in that nasty newsroom of ours — that we all looked pretty poor. Meant we could do this work. I didn’t know that was going to be a curse. Reality — I had the most amazing talk with him and it changed my life, and his column was the one thing I always read those Weekly years.
I was involved in the Pima College Motorcycle Rider Safety Program in the late 70’s with my friend Ken. We decided to have a motorcycle safety “film festival” and Jeff already had a reputation for riding hard and fast. He showed up with about a dozen of his buds that night and that’s how we met. I was impressed that despite his reputation, he respected what we were trying to do. Rest in Peace. Mark G.
🙁
Condolences, love, and hugs to Caleb and Liza.
He was a great writer and a good man….what more could you ask for?
My prayers and condolences to Jeff’s family and friends.
Sorry to learn of Jeff Smith’s passing. He was definitely an iconoclastic, one-of-a-kind journalist. R.I.P.
Amazingly gifted writer and genuinely good guy, a curmudgeon before his time! For years his recipe for “Grub” hung inside my family’s kitchen cupboard. Don’t forget his unforgettable restaurant reviews! Ride fast my friend!
Does anyone know how he died?
Why did he suddenly stop writing for the Weekly?
He stopped writing for The Weekly because The Weekly reluctantly let him go during a period of extreme financial difficulty. I drove down to his house and gave him the bad word in person and told him I was sorry. It was about the toughest thing I’ve ever done. And the emotional impact of that kind of sometimes necessary but tragically sad action is the primary reason I sold the paper. I couldn’t take the stress anymore after almost 17 years of constant assault. It’s fucking tough to be a newspaper publisher. It’s a decision that has haunted me for years and it cost me a dear friendship with Smith.
Jeff and I were on the original Reporter Roundtable when it was hosted by Peggy Giddings. I loved the guy because he was so brutally honest and never apologized for it. He knew many of the things he said would come back to bite him on the ass, but he would say them anyway. But it wasn’t maliciious. it was how he felt. Many times during the show’s taping, Peter Bronson and I would just sit back and watch in awe.
I loved his columns and would always read him first. A great writer, a good friend. I’m glad I knew him.
Bud Foster
Always enjoyed his writings and commentaries. He was intelligent, thoughtful, provocative, irritating, abrasive, insightful. He was complicated and made me think, never knew what his opinion was going to be on the important matters in Tucson. Never met him but I swear in the last couple weeks I have suddenly wondered, “What happened to Jeff Smith?” Been meaning to do some research and find out, then I find he passed on. He had more effect on me than I even realized. May he be in peace. May he be in the best place that he would like. Cheers!
I too loved watching him on the Roundtable on PBS back in the day…no offense Mr. Nintzel, but the Roundtable wasn’t the same after he left (although I still watch.) Really missed seeing his column in the Weekly too. A real loss for Tucson….
Didn’t matter the publication, if it had Jeff Smith byline, that story got marked for first/mandatory read. Hugely talented as observer, analyist and writer. I am so sad that he’s gone.
I always missed his writings but thank him for giving me the inspiration to write my book. We will all miss him.
On behalf of the Smith family, thanks for all the kind words. We’re working on a memorial, but as is the case with a personality as big as Jeff’s, it’s gonna take a while to get everything that needs to be said, said. And all the ammo put back in the ammo cans. Meanwhile, we really appreciate the kind words and memories of our favorite curmudgeon/Dad.
RIP Jeff. Al and I just learned of his passing. Remember him at the range in his fedora with feathers in the band and his smile.. Al and Jeff would sit and talk about guns, ammo, life, dogs, motorcycles while I made dinner in the travel trailer. Many great conversations after the matches at Pala and Az. Thoughts with the Smith family. Al and Dana Sledge
As a one-time journalism student, and a sometimes reader and commentator to the Weekly, I always enjoyed Jeff’s writing. It was fearless, apparently like his life. I didn’t know much about his personal journey, but I am honored to read about it now, and very saddened by his passing. Condolences to his family and close friends. RIP, Jeff Smith.
I’m so sorry Liza and Caleb and Barbara. Patagonia and I’ve lost a dear funny friend and shooting pardner.
Annie McGreevy
I no longer live in Tucson or in AZ and don’t read the TW very often anymore. But when I did live in Tucson during the 80’s and early 90’s my first thought every Wed morning when I woke up was to get my hands on a copy of the Weekly so that I could read Jeff Smith. He was a hell of an honest writer and when I moved away from Tucson I cried because I would no longer be able to partake in my weekly Wed ritual. (There was no on- line media then.) Thank you for giving us JS and my sympathy to his family. Like Molly Ivans whom I still miss terribly Jeff was one of a kind. Also thank you for the links to his past articles.