Articles by Slim Smith
A Gilded Age beginning, a Cuban parking meter crisis, and some of the best hall clocks ever made
You could blame it on a Catechism of the Catholic Church or, maybe, a changing marketplace. You could even blame it on Fidel Castro.
Slimantics: Borsig shot down Shad White’s argument nine years ago
State auditor Shad White was a political appointee by Gov. Phil Bryant in 2018, then was elected to the post in 2019. He is running for reelection this year, but you get the impression that his ultimate goal lies beyond the auditor’s office.
Community Profile: Husband’s baking skills make new business a piece of cake
Rob Johnson and his wife, Kelly Bryant, consider their custom baking company a team effort. One bakes and decorates, the other markets and promotes.
Slimantics: A confession… just in case
A few weeks back, as part of a routine insurance-policy mandated “Let’s put ‘er up on the rack and see what we got” exam, a CT scan revealed a shadow on my left kidney that looked like something a urologist could make some money off of.
Community Profile: Pepper the Print Shop Parrot has a lot to say
For 22 years, an African Gray Parrot has greeted customers at C&P Printing. Be careful what you say… parrots like Pepper have vocabularies of up to 1,000 words.
Slimantics: Tate Reeves in the role of Juror #3
Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film, “12 Angry Men” is broadly considered a classic.
Profile: ‘Ms. Shirley’ uses food truck to feed less fortunate in East Columbus
For more than 25 years now, Shirley Coleman and her food truck – Ms. Shirley’s – have been a fixture at Gateway Shopping Center in East Columbus, serving up the kind of comfort food Coleman, 61, has been cooking since she was a little girl.
Slimantics: Figuring out Fred
It was in early May and Tess was returning home from a week-long business trip when she called to tell me what time she expected to arrive, a courtesy to allow me time to disperse the hookers and hide the cocaine or, perhaps, vice versa.
Community Profile: Horse lover found the shoe fit for farrier career
In some respects, Greg Fulgham’s job is like being a manicurist.
Community Profile: Former home-builder stays busy cleaning headstones
Last fall, when Ray Troyer was looking for something to do in his retirement after 30 years as a home-builder, his first idea was to be a grave-digger.
Slimantics: Why boys should play girls sports
In November, voters will go to the polls to choose Mississippi’s 66th governor, a contest between incumbent Tate Reeves, a Republican, and Brandon Presley, a Democrat.
Community Profile: Sonny Cole has seen it all
Sonny Cole didn’t volunteer to be a member of the New Hope booster club. Rather, he was enlisted.
Slimantics: Fate of our hospital system rests in three men’s hands
November’s general elections will be upon us sooner than we think, so it’s never a bad time to brush up on Mississippi Civics, something that is only briefly touched upon in public schools these days.
Swedenburg’s business is a ‘sod’ story
When Roger Swedenburg opened his sod business near Reform, Alabama, in 1990, he left little doubt as to what he expected the company’s future to look like.
Slimantics: Fitch is fighting the bad fight
Mississippi has made great progress when it comes to civil rights. White politicians in our state generally agree on this.
Slimantics: Sorry, ‘Oppenheimer,’ but ‘Barbie’ is the bomb at the box office
On July 23, Tess and I decided to see a movie and like millions of Americans there were two obvious choices.
In Memoriam: Gildea’s passion for the arts was her gift to the community
It’s fair to say Columbus wasn’t ready for the last of Trudy Gildea’s kids to get out of school.
Slimantics: Back to school: ‘Both siding’ slavery, Jim Crow
Beginning this week, millions of American children will be headed back to school to resume their studies of the Three Rs (readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic).
Community Profile: Retired lawyer Bill Threadgill, age 100, believes activity is key to longevity
People in Columbus come and go, Bill Threadgill being a notable exception.
Slimantics: Odd political ad choices from the Governor
At this time three years ago, cities and counties in Mississippi were busy fashioning their own COVID-19 policies, waiting for Governor Tate Reeves to issue a state-wide order.