EDITORIAL BACKGROUNDJames Elliston (Jim) Smith has been active in journalism and newspapers for more than 25 years as a news reporter, photographer, editorial writer and columnist. He began his full-time newspaper career at the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, rising from reporter to assistant managing editor in seven years. He has held executive management posts at the Lakeland (Florida) Ledger, the Grand Junction (Colorado) Daily Sentinel, the Longmont (Colorado) Daily Times-Call and the Bainbridge (Georgia) Post-Searchlight. While a student at Florida State University, he worked part-time at the Tallahassee Democrat as a weekend police reporter, and helped guide the campus newspaper from a twice-a-week publication to five days a week. He now resides in Bainbridge, Georgia, a small slice of Americana, located in the southwest corner of the state. He owns and operates The Book Nook, dealing in used and new books. The store is located in the historic district of downtown Bainbridge. (229-248-0955). Jim has been active in community affairs, serving on the Downtown Development Authority, Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, president of the local Historical Society, and chairman of the Downtown Bainbridge Business Association. After retiring from the newspaper business in Bainbridge and purchasing the book store, Jim continued writing occasional articles for the newspaper and served as publicity chairman for a variety of community events. In 2008, he began offering weekly opinion columns to the Bainbridge Post-Searchlight. |
