A tribute to George Smith, 4th March 2012
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George Smith, writer, colleague and friend, died unexpectedly on 2nd March 2012 after a long illness. We returned this afternoon from the marriage of George’s youngest daughter Jenny to Aaron Fenell at the Winters Barns in Canterbury. The wedding was a roller-coaster of emotions, both draining and spiritually uplifting; the festivities marred of course but not spoiled by the death on the previous day of the father of the bride, George Smith. We came home to see many tributes to George posted on Twitter and various Internet sites from friends and admirers around the world. George was always leery of social media so we fear he might have felt this a bit unseemly, would have railed against it but, secretly, he’d have been both intrigued and chuffed. He was also a private man embarassed by limelight, not a seeker of personal accolades. So he’d have dismised those with a joke too, though secretly in his heart he’d have been hugely pleased. George’s life deserves celebration for sure, so we’ll have lots to say about him in coming months. But rather than rush into anything just now we feel we should simply link SOFII readers to the many tributes to George that have sprung up in the last 24 hours, and to link you too to the stories that we have already from George on the SOFII site. For they are magic and priceless. George was a massive SOFII supporter and a real help to us from the moment we started to put SOFII together. Today though we would like to tell you a little bit about the great triumph of human spirit that was Jenny and Aaron’s wedding. It is a huge unfairness that, after such a long and brave battle against a terrible, remorseless illness, George died on the day before the wedding of his beloved Jenny. Aaron’s family and friends had come over from Australia. A lot of planning and energy had gone into preparations for this special day and George was looking forward to it more than most. The family decided that, as George would have wished, the wedding should go ahead exactly as planned. George knew what was happening and was determined that his absence should not blight Jenny’s special day, so by common consent of family and all the guests, it was not allowed to. The wedding was instead a joyous celebration quite remarkable to see and very moving. Truly, a triumph of optimism over adversity. George’s last words to Jenny were, ‘Have fun’. As it turned out, the wedding was really great fun, largely because the spirit of George was everywhere, ensuring that it would be. That and the enormous courage and cheerful determination of Stella, Jenny, Kate, Adam and their families. Joe, Charlie, Marie and I had set off in the morning with heavy hearts, uncertain as to how the day might develop. Initially it was a sombre gathering as word of George’s death spread. But following a moving, encouraging oration from George’s son-in-law Neil in which he reminded guests that this was Jenny and Aaron’s day and that George had determined it should be so, by early into the event the mood had changed completely. George’s great friend John Hambley movingly and humorously gave the speech George would have made as father of the bride. Aaron's brothers toasted the bride and had us in stitches. Stella, George's wife, spoke passionately about the fine young couple and there was not a dry eye in the house – but tears of joy, mostly. We then danced, sang and laughed past midnight. It wasn’t difficult to do. George would have loved every moment of it. As Kate Mazur put it, it turned out to be a day for all to remember, not one to forget. Stella has decided that, as it will come so soon after the wedding, the funeral will be a private family affair but that, later, an event should be held to celebrate George’s life and work. So she has asked a small group of his friends to organise this. We won’t rush but will let things settle and an announcement will be made soon. So, we look forward to a celebration to come, one that will record why George Smith was such a great man so universally admired by his peers. It will celebrate some of the finest writing about direct marketing, fundraising and life in general that there has ever been. And it will remind us all of some of the most powerful arguments ever put forward for the rigorous professionalism of our causes and the noble aspiration to excellence that George believed should characterise all fundraisers, as communicators of something he truly valued, that he would call, ‘stuff worth doing’.
Links to George’s writing on SOFII UK fundraising’s premier wordsmith: George Smith George Smith as others see him Twelve suggestions – and a bit more – to help you write effectively Working with suppliers, part one Working with suppliers, part two So you seriously want to be a client?
Links to recent tributes to George |
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George was such an inspiration
I know George did not want sorrow but joy. But his departure creates such a great vacuum for me, for us all. He was an exemplary fighter, so humble in his successes, so courageous in his fight against the illness, such an inspiration to us all. I would not be who I am today if George had not be on my life path as a wonderful lighthouse, bright sign to optimism, professionalism and above all deep friendship.
Grieving, trying to keep the joy as George wanted, but feeling so deeply the loss. George was an unbelievable friend and inspiration full of richness and humanity.
Pierre-Bernard Le Bas
pb.lebas@cbm.org
George, the world is a far better place because of you
Ken Burnett has just infomed me of the loss of George Smith who died on Friday after a long struggle with motor neurone disease.
George was and is my fundraising hero. He inspired me when I was an angry young man in my 20s who wanted to change the world because he was still an angry young man in his 40s with a passion against injustice expressed with an eloquence that most of us can only dream to aspire towards. He inspired generations of fundraisers around the world. He lit bonfires and beacons of hope that brought the bright light of social and evironmental change...fuelled by fundraising.
He was also so bloody funny, so deprecating, so good at pricking the vanities of others, at finding the humour in almost any situation and getting to the core of what mattered. George, I was reading you last book "Up Smith Creek" laughing my socks off on the very day you died.
We have lost a great colleague, friend, mentor and inspirational leader. May you rest in peace...but no doubt you will giving them a piece of your mind wherever you are now.
My hearfelt condolences to his wife and family whom he adored, Stella, Jenny, Kate, Adam
With love
Daryl Upsall
Why we will miss this brilliant maverick
George Smith was the man who single-handedly shook up a worthy but dull industry, then obsessed with science, analysis and technique, and proved that imaginative creativity plays just as critical a role as, say, data or print.
George set up Smith Bundy, the one direct marketing agency in London in the 1980s that was known for left field creative thinking, in a market where ‘golden formulae’ ruled. What clients got was usually brilliant and occasionally barmy, but whatever it was, it would always make them think.
And George was born to challenge convention. He was in the fortunate position of being far brighter than almost anyone else he met. So he could see through the pomposity of those who lived by theory without ever understanding the practice. He would stun professional theoreticians by pointing out, with devastating wit and accuracy, that their new emperor actually had no clothes. Inevitably, he would be right.
George was more than catalyst for change in our exciting new industry. He was an inspiration and mentor to many who owe him so much. To myself, to Terry Hunt, Ken Burnett, Jon Allen, Carol Trickey, Nigel Swabey, Elly Woolston, Peter Minta and many, many others, all of whom will be mourning the loss of a dear friend and an engaging and very funny companion.
However, George is not the sort of man who would want to rest in peace. I would imagine that right now he is questioning God as to the hierarchy in heaven and challenging the dress code at the pearly gates.
But today, all our thoughts must be with the wonderful Stella and his family. For they have lost George, the devoted husband and loving father. We will all miss him so much.
Chris Barraclough
The mighty George Smith
I first bumped into George at his agency, Smith Bundy , where he gave me some sound advice on building Shelter's trading business. Next stop was when I introduced him to the stage at a fundraising convention by referring to him as one of the 'real gurus' to be found in the sector. I bet he hated that! Roll on 20 years and working at the RNID, where, like many others, I turned to George to deliver a seminar on the power of the written word and how to use that power to best effect. Brilliant, of course. When I asked his advice I wouldn't have been surprised to have got a clip around the ear as punishment for not listening properly the first time around but he was surprisingly patient with ordinary people like me as I guess he was with most people wanting to benefit from his undoubted wisdom. So, goodbye George. Wise, funny, patient and undoubted guru. John Trampleasure DCEO - WSPA
Will treasure my copy of 'Asking Properly' even more
Very sad and shocked to hear the news of George's death. I learnt so much about writing and about direct marketing from him and loved working with him at Burnett Associates. He was luminous.
Sanchi
George Smith liked fennel sausage
I made a fennel sausage this evening to remember a joyful meal that I shared with George one evening in San Francisco that also curiously featured fennel sausage. I feel privileged to have known him and sad that I will not have the opportunity to discuss the Master and Commander books with him.
What a huge loss - I will miss George immensely
George has been in my life in various capacities, since I was born - through Carol Trickey, my aunt and George's business partner and dear friend.
George always made me think, and smile but most of the time he made me laugh out loud! He was as dynamic as a person can be, and when I saw him last summer, chatting with him I was aware again of his ability to speak with a very light touch but also get to the heart of the matter.
Working with him, (I was very junior - receptionist at Smith Bundy & Partners) his professional reputation, expertise and intelligence was sometimes a little intimidating, then George would say something incredibly funny and that would change all of that in an instant, and make one feel that one was talking to a fabulous human being - an incredibly clever granted, but wonderfully and essentially a human.
I also witnessed his incredibly fabulous sense of humour which bought such excitement to the office! Whooshing in - usually in impeccable suit and coat - he immediately bought to the office a sense of fun, with a great look in his eye for a good joke, but he also bought with him a sense of anticipation: that things were going to get done and that was very infectious!
Indeed the world is better because he was in it, but I will miss him very much and it's a sad thing to know that he is not possibly at another family-related event, where I might bump into him and be enriched by that wonderful experience.
My deepest sympathy goes to Stella, Jenny, Kate and Adam and to all his dear friends.
With love
Laura Austin
Thanks, everyone
Ken, Marie – thanks for those kind words. It really was a beautiful wedding, wasn't it. I've just spent the last hour or so reading all of these comments and links. Very special.
Neil
(Son-in-law)
Thanks George
I was very sad to hear that George died. From when I first heard him at the International Fund Raising Workshop in the nineties, he gave my fundraising a kick in the arse. The last time I saw him - at an Ireland Funds talk in the early noughties - he was as energising as ever.
I know he despised clichés, but he will live on through all the brilliant fundraising he did and will continue to inspire - and the good causes that funds.
All the best to his family and friends and colleagues around the world.
Bruce Clark, Ireland
George Smith
We go back almost 50 years. I first knew George in the early 1960s when he handled the Oxfam account for Harold Sumption at the Alexander-Butterfield agency and I was a lowly Oxfam worker. Alice got to know George a decade later when she worked for him in his office at 10a The Pavement, Clapham. Over the years since then, we have seen him rise and rise as his creative skills, personality and mastery of words written and spoken, made him the marketing wiz we all knew and respected. And as I moved on from Oxfam to other charities and campaigns, and then to charity consultancy, George was there, applying his talents to other good causes.
Now he is gone but he has not disappeared. As the Sofii tributes bear witness, George has attracted around him a body of loyal colleagues and friends who will long remember him. Reading these tributes, it is not surprising to see the names of the people we knew all those years ago still there, still full of love and admiration for him, such as Ken Burnett, Carol Trickey, Nigel Swabey, John Hambley, Jon Allen ...
We have also known and loved Stella for many years. Indeed, we bought their house in Herne Hill in 1977 as they moved on to elegant Camberwell. It was when we moved to Oxfordshire in 1988 that we began to lose touch with them. Though we met up from time to time, it was only years later, at the launch of 'Up Smith Creek' that contact was renewed. But it was too late and the worst happened.
But we will always remember George.
With our love
Peter and Alice Burns
Thank you George
Thank you for all you taught me about fundraising and about life. Thank you for all the wise advice you gave me with such humility, so that I could listen and learn. Thank you for all the encouragement you gave me, just when I needed it. I am so sorry that I will not hear your voice again, but the contribution you made and the memories I retain will live on, and your suffering, which was so hard to watch, is at an end.
David Brann
George, the writer's writer
Can't remember who suggested I contact George in 1981 (I think) about writing for Direct Response magazine, but whoever you were, thanks and thanks again. It was a masterful suggestion that led to me meeting one of the master writers of our generation. The fee per article was a modest 60 quid (it didn't change over the subsequent eight years) George penned his remarkable series of perceptive, witty, scathing, entertaining, educational articles. They were a must read (I wish I could say the same for the rest of the magazine). People booked advertising opposite his article, knowing it was so widely read. His roadshows on writing (alongside the inimitable Roger M) were sell outs. He helped educate an industry of 'creatives' and 'writers', and he did it with charm and humour. He was an inspiration and guide, even the best copywriters accepted that George's thinking and writing were in a league of there own.
I'm proud and privileged to have known and worked with George and had the honour of bringing his unique brand of writing to an industry that so desperately needed it through the pages of our modest magazine. Those were good times!
Paul Rowney, Founder, Publisher and Editor of Direct Response magazine, subsequently bought and buried by Haymarket Publishing!
George Smith- An old 'Sarf London' mate
Ashamed to say that I only found out today (07/01/2013) that George had died- can't believe it was so long ago when I last saw him, sitting in the Cock in Kennington Lane, after work, with my late wife Alison who was once George's PA. I wonder if he ever thought of the time he, myself and Pete Trickey stood in his office with our trousers round our ankles thinking how amused our wives would be when they got back. They weren't! Happy days. God bless you George, you and your sense of humour certainly lifted my spirits.
Gary Mitchell
gary.mitchell44@btinternet.com
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