Reporter Smith Touched Many

I was sorry to hear about the passing of reporter Don Smith and appreciated your nice story (“Longtime County Times Reporter Don Smith Dies,” June 27) on his life and work. He was, as you mentioned, a great teacher and mentor for many in Orange County. As both a student and colleague of Don, I want to share a story about him as a tribute to his life.

I took a class in journalism from him during the early 1970s at Cal State Fullerton and learned more in that class than most of the others put together. He was a real pro and gave us aspiring journalists not only a taste of the “real world” but tips on how to survive in it. Several years later I ran into Don as a rookie reporter for the Anaheim Bulletin. He and I were both covering a news conference in Anaheim. You can imagine my nervousness covering the same story as my former professor and a respected, veteran journalist.

Don was friendly, but quickly went to work doing his job and asking good questions to get quotes. I missed a key statement and sheepishly asked Don afterward to help me with the full quote. Although most grizzled reporters of the day would have laughed at me for seeking help from a competing newspaper, Don just smiled, turned some pages in his reporter’s notebook and helped me with the quote.

Not much more was said, but he taught me a lot. I have never forgotten him. I guess one of the best things we can all hope for is that our life means as much to others as Don’s did to those of us who knew him.

RON KIRKPATRICK

Los Alamitos