Joe D. Smith Jr.
| Joe Dorsey Smith Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 6, 1922 Selma, Grant Parish, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | March 20, 2008 (aged 85) Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana |
| Occupation |
Publisher of Alexandria Daily Town Talk (1962–1996) Investor |
| Political party | Registered Democrat, but large donor to Republicans |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Jane Wilson Smith (1922–1992, married until her death) (2) Bertie Murphy Deming Smith (born ca. 1925, married until his death) |
| Children | Son Larry Dorsey Smith (born 1948) of Austin, Texas Stepsons John W. Deming Jr. of Palo Alto, California Claiborne P. Deming of El Dorado, Arkansas Stepdaughters Bertie Deming Heiner of Charlottesville, Virginia Cathy Deming Pierson of New Orleans Eleven grandchildren |
| Notes | |
|
(1) Smith said that a home-town newspaper has a special responsibility to try to improve the community that it serves, not just for business reasons, but for the general welfare of the citizens. (2) Through his role as a newspaper publisher, Smith influenced the routing of Interstate 49 through Alexandria. (3) Though he was a registered Democrat, Smith was a generous donor to Republican candidates. (4) Smith went into the newsroom on November 22, 1963, to help in the production of a rare special edition newspaper on the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. |
|
(1) Smith said that a home-town newspaper has a special responsibility to try to improve the community that it serves, not just for business reasons, but for the general welfare of the citizens.
(2) Through his role as a newspaper publisher, Smith influenced the routing of Interstate 49 through Alexandria.
(3) Though he was a registered Democrat, Smith was a generous donor to Republican candidates.
Joe Dorsey Smith Jr. (April 6, 1922 – March 20, 2008) was the former general manager, president, publisher, and chairman of the board of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk in Alexandria, the largest newspaper (circulation 40,000) in central Louisiana. Smith became publisher in 1962. After a half century of service, he retired from The Town Talk in March 1996, and the paper was sold for $62 million to Central Newspapers, Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana. Smith died suddenly at his Alexandria residence three days after the newspaper observed its 125th anniversary on March 17, 2008. He was a former chairman and president of the trade associations, the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. He was a former officer of the Associated Press news-gathering organization. Known for his acute civic-mindedness, Smith advocated reform in state and local government. He was a former president of the Public Affairs Research Council, a "good government" research institution. He served on the boards of Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication and the Louisiana Board of Regents in Baton Rouge, the body which governs public higher education.
Smith was born to Joe Smith Sr. and Louise Lindsay Smith in the unincorporated community of Selma in northern Grant Parish, located south of Georgetown on U.S. Highway 165. His parents were originally from rural areas. Louise Smith was a native of Eros in northeastern Jackson Parish. Smith, Sr., was originally from Geneva in Sabine County, Texas, just west of the Sabine River Geneva is considered the oldest continuously occupied town in East Texas. Smith, Sr., was a bookkeeper for the former Interurban Transportation Company, formed by Morgan W. Walker, Sr. The company was a forerunner of Continental Trailways Bus lines.
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