A longtime local newspaper and television contributor whose career brought him to Buffalo in 1968 has submitted his final work and moved downstate. His farewell article is being released today.
Doug Smith, whose sports, cooking and theater columns were carried by publications including the Buffalo Evening News (now the Buffalo News), Courier Express, WIVB-TV, Niagara Gazette and Buffalo Rocket, has officially retired and, along with his longtime wife Polly, moved from their Grand Island home to Cortland, to be closer to their daughter.
Before moving out of Western New York in late March, Smith spoke with WBFO's Michael Mroziak in a telephone interview. Coincidentally, Smith briefly called Mroziak "boss" when the latter worked as the sports editor for the Niagara Gazette from March 2013 until March 2015.
His final local column appears in this week's edition of the Buffalo Rocket, which is released today (April 7).
He began his career in Jamestown as a teenager, providing sports articles first for the Sun and then the Post-Journal. After working for papers in Maryland and Pennsylvania and then returning to Jamestown, Smith was hired by the Buffalo Evening News in 1968. He later joined the Courier Express and worked there until that paper's demise in 1982.
Upon the closure of the Courier, Smith joined WIVB-TV. He also joined the North Buffalo Rocket, now the Buffalo Rocket, in 1984.
He later began contributing articles to the Niagara Gazette, in both their news and sports sections, in the 1990s. His sports contributions included a weekly baseball column known as "Base Paths."
In addition to his work with news outlets, Smith was also a longtime public address announcer for local amateur baseball, from the City of Niagara Falls' annual citywide championship series to the former New York Collegiate Baseball League franchise Niagara Power.
Smith, now 80 years old, is retired but will not be entirely idled. Upon settling in at his new home in Cortland, Smith will serve as the beat writer for the Cortland Crush, a baseball team also affiliated with the NYCBL.
