A journalist, either print or broadcast, is trained in the use of observation to help tell a story. It's always the little things that give context to the tale told, and clarity to the certainties contained in journalism 101's five "W's," and the lonely and elusive "H." In my sixty plus years as a practicing reporter, I've covered everything from wars to weirdos, from tragedies to triumphs, from Congress to City Hall and from Presidents to prisoners. I've been a local reporter, a nightly news anchor and a White House correspondent. I've been delighted to tell stories of grace and saddened by the pathos of life. Each story has its facts and its color. Facts come from dogged reporting, researched questioning and listening. They are the bones of the story. Color, the nuances that give flesh to the story come from observation. Walks with Wonder is a compilation of my observations of life, nature, spirit and events. They are short essays splashed with opinion, empathy and conjecture in the pursuit of seeing things from a different perspective.
Rolland G. Smith has over sixty-five years of pro-fessional broadcast experience as an anchor, a reporter, producer and commentator. During his career he has beenhonored by the National Academy of Television Arts andSciences with twenty-five Emmy nominations and hasreceived eleven Emmy Awards.Highlights of his years in broadcasting include presi-dential interviews, front-line coverage of the Vietnam War, anchoring the international broadcast feed of "Live Aid" toan audience in excess of two billion, and being the first jour-nalist to accompany the U.S. Geological Survey Team insideMount St. Helens after the volcano's devastating eruption.Along with his extensive experience in broad-casting, Mr.Smith has an expressed interest in global issues, includingthe future of the environment (both physical and spiritual).As a public speaker, he often includes in his engage-ments readings from his poetry, in which he uses the magicof rhyme as an avenue to communicate his viewpoint. Hisfirst book of poetry, Quiet Musings, was nationally releasedin August 1995 and was soon followed by his first CD, Syl.la.bles, which combines beautiful original music by TimJanis with his poetry readings. His four subsequent bookreleases were entitled Encore: The Poetry of Nature, StoneWisdom: Poems and Commentaries, Naka: Poems from theCenter and Consider This, Commentaries.
