Harold Smith who brought farm broadcasting to southwestern Ontario in 1962 passed away this week and we remember a mentor and friend.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
We don't quote the Bible much in this editorial corner, but that verse of Ecclesiastes seems appropriate.
A lot has been said about Harold Smith, since he passed away this week. Former radio broadcaster, founder and designer of radio farm shows at least in Southwestern Ontario, and an authoritative voice who covered the farm beat well.
There may not be many in agriculture in the southwest who didn't tune in at least sometimes to his show, with its weekly updates from the Ministry of Agriculture Ag Reps, from five counties. Livestock reports from sales yards across the province it seemed like, and input from the local corn, wheat and soybean association committees.
And if they weren't tuning in to listen many were being told to shush, Harold Smith was on the radio. He joked to me more than once that he had likely ruined more lunch-time conversations than anyone in the area.
And many of those in the-then younger generation grew up with a bit of fear of Harold, because they were the reporters for their 4-H clubs and had to record a weekly report for the Sunday 4-H radio show. A few still dread the thought to this day.
I worked with Harold in the early 1980s. We were all struggling with interest rates in the 20 plus per cent range for part of that time.
Banks were shutting down farmers who had never missed a payment because their mortgage ratios had slipped out of whack. More than a few farm businesses bit the dust in some cases making the farm finances worse if they failed owing money to their farm customers. Penny auctions and farm gate defenses, some of them violent were taking place.
Harold helped keep some fairly young and naive reporters like me grounded as these stories slipped out of the farm show and into the mainstream newscasts.
For that I thank him, he was a real mentor to me. Although he never let his views affect the story his empathy and understanding shone through and taught me a lot about handling difficult stories.
For all that I believe he was a modest man. He gardened, I believe he sang in his church choir and his sense of humour was often aimed at himself.
Once after a vacation in England he told me, that at the airport he turned to his wife Ruth and said, "well I've got some time when no one is going to ask me what beans are going to do."
Only to have a voice from across the hall say "Harold what's beans doing." The Reeve of Chatham Township had apparently also been on holidays.
If there is a lesson to be learned from this it is that a modest and somewhat unassuming person can mean a lot to a lot of people.
He was of course first and foremost his family's. But he was our Harold Smith as well. Certainly to those who worked in the news department with him he was our Harold Smith.
And to many farmers he was their Harold Smith, and to some still does belong to agriculture.
