The "The End Of Smart Remarks" Story

LNP photo of Gil Smart

It was an ordinary day.  Just saw that a graduate of Manheim Township High School, where I graduated for as a high school student and where I taught for 32 years, is giving up his very controversial "Smart Remarks" column in the printed Lancaster Newspaper.  I never had Gil Smart as a sutdnet when he went to Manheim Township, but I remember him well from seeing him at his locker which was right outside my Graphic Arts classroom.  Gil was one of many former students of the high school who ended up writing and taking photos for the Lancaster newspaper.  Joan Kern, one of my classmates when I was a student still writes for the newspaper as a correspondent.  But the biggest name and the one who probably sold more newspapers for the company was Gil Smart.  Gil was a left-leaning writer in right-leaning Lancaster County, PA.  It was in 1996 that he wrote a column which was critical of our local TV station after he thought their coverage of a 30 inch snowstorm was less than adequtate.  The column ran on page 2 of the automotive section, but to the suprise of many, quite a few people read the automotive section, saw his story and responded.  About half agreed with what he said while the other half thought he was way off base with his column.  My guess is that was the last time he had 50% agree with his point of view.  I can remember the column he wrote some time later telling the right-wingers to "get out of my face."  Boy did that go over well!  Carol and I loved reading his Sunday News columns on page 1 of the Perspective Section.  Bypassed all the other sections early Sunday morning to see what kind of trouble Gil was going to be in that week.  We never could understand how the editor of the newspaper kept putting Gil's column, "Smart Remarks", on page 1 against a right-leaning columnist on the same page.  We guess it REALLY sold papers!!  In recent years Gil has mellowed and has given in to the right-leaning views on some topics.  He attributed his slight change on growing up and having a family and starting to see some other viewpoints.  Carol and I talked about Gil's column when the newspaper changed their look and moved Gil inside the section.  At times he didn't even seem to put up a fight about topics that he would blast people about in years past.  Then when we didn't see his column for a few weeks we wondered if he was on vacation.  But then his column appeared called "Rolling with life's changes and marking end of an era."  He told of his journey from brash antagonistic writer to a more subdued writer.  I personally enjoyed the prior, but I can understand after having raised my own family and seeing different points of view on topics.  Carol and I even took a seminar he taught on designing and writing a blog.  I guess you can see where I got some of my ideas from over the years.    He still will have a blog for the paper and my guess is he will still have days where he will lambast the right-wing opposition on some topic.  At least I hope he does!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.