In work and life, he stood for free speech: Rich Archbold – Long Beach Press Telegram

Jim Smith never forgot the day he got arrested as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, 53 years ago.

Smith, who died at 72 on Mothers Day, wasnt alone. Almost 800 others were arrested in 1964 at a sit-in in Sproul Hall. Students were protesting university restrictions on campus political activities and their free speech. It was the start of the historic Free Speech Movement led by Mario Savo.

I met Smith years later when I was managing editor of the Press-Telegram, and he was a manager in our circulation department.

He would talk about his experience and how proud he was that he got involved. He called it his awakening on social and political issues.

He was a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, according to his wife, Wendy. He was against the war in Vietnam, the war in Iraq and anything that he thought would inhibit free speech. He was for womens rights and tolerance for all people.

Almost until the day he died from pneumonia, Smith was engaged in social activism. He and his wife walked in the Los Angeles Womens March on Jan. 21, the day after President Trumps inauguration.

His passion for social causes worked perfectly with his job at the Press-Telegram in overseeing delivery of the newspaper.

He loved the idea that he was working at a place where the First Amendment was honored and fought for, his wife said. It was so important to him to have a free press and free speech.

Smith spent 22 years at the Press-Telegram delivering newspapers to driveways and vending machine. At one time, he was overseeing the delivery of almost one-half of the Press-Telegrams daily circulation.

He earned the title of Golden Boy for his work in turning around the operation of one of the papers bigger districts.

Smith was born April 6, 1945 in Compton, but his parents moved to Long Beach, where he grew up. He was class valedictorian at Lakewood High School but was not considering college because his family could not afford it.

But someone told him about scholarships. With his 4.0 GPA, he got a full scholarship to Berkeley, where he studied history and learned about civil disobedience.

Smith was the older of the Smith Brothers at the Press-Telegram. His younger brother, Bill, also spent years at the paper before moving to Long Beach Transit.

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Jim also had his 15 minutes of fame at the paper when he was the subject of a column by Tim Grobaty, Working his butt off. The column is reprinted in Grobatys book, Im Dying Here, A Life in the Paper.

Ten years ago, Jim was driving down Seventh Street enjoying one of the many cigarettes he would smoke every day. When he was done, he flicked the cigarette out the window at Ximeno Avenue. Bad mistake. A cop was following Jim and issued him a ticket.

Jim was fined $416 and, worse, he had to do eight hours of community service, which consisted of raking and bagging loads of trash on the banks of the Santa Ana Freeway.

He was a 62-year-old then on his knees picking up trash and chopping tree limbs.

Throughout the day, workers took more than a few cigarette breaks. Seemed like we all smoked, Jim said.

Grobaty wrote, And when they were done with their cigarettes, what do you suppose they did with the butts? We know and we could tell you, but we dont want to get Smith into any more trouble.

Jim quit smoking six years ago.

Rich Archbold is public editor of the Press-Telegram and a member of the Southern California News Group editorial board. rarchbold@scng.com

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In work and life, he stood for free speech: Rich Archbold - Long Beach Press Telegram