David Miln Smith (born October 17, 1938) is a speaker and adventure athlete. He was the first man to swim from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

across the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

, which he did twice, first in 1966, and again in 1967. He made a name for himself in the 1960s and 1970s with a series of extreme and international multi-sports events, such as "Everyman's Olympics" and the "Peace Pentathlon." The latter got him on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' in 1970, where he was dubbed "Super Hippie." Throughout the next few decades, he wrote books on

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and health, and was the recurrent guest adventurer on television shows such as

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

's ''

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest inte ...

.'' Johnny Carson said, “He travels around the world doing all the things you want to do.” The

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

called him "the King of the Risk Takers".

Early life

David was the son of Dr. Seymour and Gladys Smith of

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He achieved

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

at the age of 12 and a half, and was at the time the youngest known Eagle Scout.

Later work

From 1973 to 1999 he was on staff at Earth House, a residential treatment center for young people diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

East Millstone, New Jersey East Millstone is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Franklin Township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

instructor and

psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous Adaptation (arts), dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jaco ...

facilitator A facilitator is a person who helps a Social group, group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neut ...

, and later as the director of their "Earth Adventure" program, an early example of

wilderness therapy Wilderness therapy, also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare, is a treatment option for behavioral disorders, substance abuse, and mental health issues in adolescents. Patients spend time living outdoors with other peers. Reports of abuse, ...

in which a group of twenty to forty patients would be led on a camping expedition onto the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

, and perform a wilderness course including

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...

, and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

through

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

. From 1990 to the present, he has been on staff as the motivational speaker for the Northern California Service League, giving talks twice a month to ex-cons in

San Quentin San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in ...

, the maximum security prison, San Bruno Jail, San Francisco Jail, and at the center. He urges them to "get a job, not do a job." He is also on the available-speaker lists of several agencies which arrange speakers for special occasions.

Published works

*HUG THE MONSTER: How to Embrace Your Fears and Live Your Dreams (with Sandra Leicester) (Andrews & McMeel, 1996) *HEALING JOURNEY The Odyssey of an Uncommon Athlete (

Sierra Club Books Sierra Club Books was the publishing division, for both adults and children, of the Sierra Club, founded in by then club President David Brower. They were a United States publishing company located in San Francisco, California with a concentrat ...

/Random House, 1983) *The East/West Exercise Book (McGraw-Hill, 1976)Amazon.com bookseller website
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References

External links

David Miln Smith Adventurer - Speaker - Author
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, David Miln 1938 births Living people Swimmers from San Francisco American male long-distance swimmers American male writers 20th-century American sportsmen