Curt Smith (born March 20, 1951 in Caledonia, New York) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, media host and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...

. In addition to work as a newspaper reporter, Smith was a political speechwriter until 1992 and a host of radio and television programs until 2002. He has written 17 books, including ''Voices of the Game'', which covers the history of baseball broadcasting. Smith is a newspaper columnist in upstate New York and holds an academic appointment at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

Biography

Smith is a 1973 graduate of

State University of New York at Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Geneseo (village), New York, Ge ...

. He worked as a

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Greater Washington DC, Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Governor John Connolly, and an editor at the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

''. In 1989 he joined the George H. W. Bush Administration as a speechwriter. After Bush’s defeat in 1992 Smith lectured at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and then turned to radio and television. From 1994 to 1996 he hosted the ''Midday Milwaukee'' talk show on radio station WISN. He also hosted WROC-TV’s ''Perfectly Clear'' program from 2000 to 2002 and a 1997-2002 series on the Fox Empire Sports Network. Currently Smith hosts the weekly ''Perspectives'' series on Rochester, New York’s NPR affiliate WXXI. The show deals with politics, pop culture, sports, and other topics. Smith also hosts the twice-weekly ''Talking Point'' show on Rochester’s CBS affiliate WROC, where he spars with co-hosts on political and other issues. Smith is the author of eleven books: ''Voices of Summer'', ''What Baseball Means to Me'', ''Voices of The Game'', ''Storied Stadiums'', ''Windows on the White House'', ''Our House'', ''Of Mikes and Men'', ''Long Time Gone'', ''A Fine Sense of the Ridiculous'', ''America's Dizzy Dean'' and ''The Storytellers''. Perhaps his best known book is ''Voices of The Game'', which recounts the history of baseball broadcasting from KDKA’s first

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

broadcast in 1921 to today’s enormous media coverage of the game. A three-part documentary was also made based on the book and has aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

.Winning 'Voices Of The Game' Is At Bat Again
/ref> His writing style has been highly praised by pundits like

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...

, but he has also been criticized for overly florid and sometimes tangled

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

. Smith lives in Rochester with his wife Sarah and their two children. He writes columns for the Messenger-Post newspapers in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and is a senior lecturer at the

References

External links

Curt Smith web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Curt 1951 births Living people American columnists American speechwriters American talk radio hosts Baseball writers Journalists from New York (state) People from Caledonia, New York Speechwriters for presidents of the United States State University of New York at Geneseo alumni University of Rochester faculty Writers from Rochester, New York