Noted columnist Vic Smith dies
Writer gained fame as southern humorist Poke McHenry
Noted columnist Vic Smith dies
Writer gained fame as southern humorist 'Poke McHenry'
By RUTH FLOWERS-WORTHINGTON
OCTOBER 22, 2008 - In 1978, Poke McHenry was born. Conceived and birthed in the newsroom of the Florida Times Union, he was the alter-ego of veteran newspaper man, Vic Smith.
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| Hubert Victor Smith or as most knew him, Poke McHenry. |
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What began as a joke, quickly found a following of dedicated readers who enjoyed the down home humor and insights of ‘Poke’ who quickly overshadowed his creator, becoming a celebrity in his own right.
For more than 25 years, ‘Poke’ continued to entertain and intrigue his readers by telling the stories of real folks and real places.
Hubert Victor Smith, 88, died Monday afternoon at Putnam Community Medical Center, where he was being treated for pneumonia. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sarah Katherine "Kitty" Smith.
He is survived by two daughters, Kay Pedrotti of Milner, Ga., and Vicki White of Jacksonville; three sisters, Connie Watson, Betty Marsh and Tommie Nichols, all of Fitzgerald; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Mr. Smith was born on October 29, 1919 as the first of ten children to James Thomas Smith and Norma Alice Griffin.
Vic began his newspaper career as a reporter on the Fitzgerald Leader in 1939 before retiring in 1992 from the grind of a three-times-a-week columnist for the Times-Union.
For more than six decades, he did about everything you could do in the newspaper business working as a reporter, photographer, copy editor, sports editor, city editor, news desk chief, columnist and managing editor. If you believe one ‘Poke’ story, he even delivered them too.
Even after retirement, ‘Poke’ was a favorite at public events around the south. Whether participating in barbecue cook offs, parades, and other events, he discovered more people and places to write about. The Poke McHenry column garnered a whole new group of fans as it continued in small newspapers around South Georgia and North Florida.
In 1994, he published Early Poke, a collection of some of his best columns. It was followed in 2001 with Poke’s Folks, Tales & Trails.
Health problems forced the eventual end of new adventures, but as proof of his continued appeal, many papers continued rerunning past columns.
Now, both Vic and Poke are gone and the world will be a little less interesting for it.
Visitation will be 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 22 at George H. Hewell and Son Funeral Home at 4140 University Boulevard S. in Jacksonville. Funeral services will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at Central United Methodist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia, followed by burial there in Evergreen Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Freedom's Way Ministries, P.O. Box 8097, Jacksonville, FL 32239.
