Candid Comments: Selected Columns from the Eufaula Tribune, 1958–2006 - Hardcover

Smith, Joel P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1603060685 ISBN 13: 9781603060684

Publisher: NewSouth Books, 2011

Synopsis

For almost fifty years, Joel P. Smith served as editor and publisher of the Eufaula Tribune, the newspaper of record in Eufaula in southeast Alabama. For much of that time, week after week, he wrote his “Candid Comments” column, which traced the often-intersecting history of Eufaula and Smith’s own life. In the selections from “Candid Comments” collected in this volume, Smith ranges from Eufaula’s “top ten characters” to the history of the Chattahoochee River, from the Tribune’s initial support of Governor George Wallace until it ceased to endorse him, and from marriage and fatherhood to press junkets in Egypt and Cuba.

About this title

About the Author:

Joel P. Smith became the editor of the Eufaula Tribune in 1958 and was named publisher a year later. In 2001 he relinquished to his son Jack the title of editor, but Smith continued as publisher, contributing columns and editorials, until he sold the newspaper in 2006. He is the author of A Eufaula Album: A Pictorial History of Eufaula, Alabama (Eufaula Tribune, 1999) and A Brief History of Shorter Mansion and the Eufaula Heritage Association (Eufaula Heritage Foundation, 2007); he also contributed a chapter to Rivers of Alabama (Strode Publishers, 1968). Smith was the posthumous recipient of the National Newspaper Association President’s Award “in recognition for a lifetime of dedicated service to the National Newspaper Association and Community Newspapers.” He married Ann Sutton Smith in 1966 and they had three sons: Jack, Joel Jr. and Bill. Smith passed away in 2009.

Review:

"[Candid Comments] is a must read for anyone who has an interest in the social life and history of Eufaula during the 1958-2006 time frame." ―Doug Purcell, Executive Director, Historic Chattahoochee Commission
"To those of us who knew him and his family, reading a collection of his weekly columns, Candid Comments: Selected Columns from The Eufaula Tribune, 1958-2006, is like sitting down for a long talk with an old friend, while the two of us down a cup or two of Eufaula Punch ... Years from now, Candid Comments will provide a treasure of information about the social mores, politics, changing racial climate and a town's efforts to preserve its history while trying to develop its economy." ― Bill Keller, former executive director, Alabama Press Association
"Joel Smith is a gifted storyteller who wrote with empathy and elegance, clarity and conviction on issues large and small. Candid Comments is 352 pages of wit and wisdom." ―Ed Trainor, Dothan Eagle

About this edition

• Publisher: NewSouth Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1603060685
• ISBN 13: 9781603060684
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352