James Herbert Smith

In his 44 years in journalism James H. Smith served as president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors, president of the Connecticut Associated Press Managing Editors association, and for five years president of the non-profit Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information.

Plaidswede Publishing of Concord, NH, published a collection of Smith’s columns under the title “A Passion for Journalism, A Newspaper Editor Writes to His Readers.” His first novel, “Wah-say-lan, A Tale of the Iroquois in the American Revolution,” and its YA edition "Wah-say-lan/Seneca Warrior" were also published by Plaidswede. His memoir, “A Boy’s Life in the Baby Boom,” was published by Elm Grove Press. His fifth book, “Opinionated Women in the Land of Steady Habits,” a collection of women newspaper opinion writers came out in December, 2018. "Baseball's Greatest Players/The Story of John Ellis and the Fight Against Cancer" (2021) and "Our Dog Yogi and Other Stories True and Mostly True" (2022).

Jim has served on the board of the New England First Amendment Coalition and the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government.

He retired from daily journalism in 2010 and was inducted two years later into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.

He was a reporter, city editor and sports editor at The Hartford Courant, and editor of the Connecticut Post. He led the Post to its first New England Newspaper of the Year Award. He also led The Day of New London, The News-Times of Danbury, the Record-Journal of Meriden, the New Britain Herald and the Bristol Press to their first New England Newspaper of the Year awards.

He won the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Distinguished Writing Award for a selection of his columns on the First Amendment, which were published in “Best Newspaper Writing 2003” put out annually by the Poynter Institute. He is a recipient of the Yankee Quill Award from the Academy of New England journalists and is a 4-time winner of the First Amendment Award from the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

He earned his master’s degree in humanities/writing from Wesleyan University, studied at Syracuse University Graduate School of Journalism and has a B.A. in American History from SUNY Brockport. He and his wife, Jacqueline, the retired editorial page editor of The News-Times, have four daughters, a social worker, an advertising executive, a mom and a journalist.