Death of well known correspondent

Jun 19 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

SHE kept the people of Girvan fully informed for nearly 40 years.

And Joan Smith’s insights into her community were highly valued by newpaper readers.

Joan, who would have been 91 in July, died peacefully in a Glasgow care home, after a long illness.

But she will be remembered as the lady who gave accurate reports on the life and times of Girvan.

This she faithfully did, from the late 1950s, right up to her retirement in 1996, aged 78.

Joan’s husband Jim was a top freelance journalist in his day, working for both local and national newspapers.

But Joan was just 42 when Jim died. And she was left a widow with a son aged 13 and a daughter aged 10.

Then Ayr Advertiser owner, Billy Dunlop, was at Jim’s funeral. And he asked Joan if she would continue her late husband’s role as Girvan correspondent.

Joan accepted the offer. She was already writing a popular Soapbox column for the Carrick Herald, which was in those days independently owned and run in Girvan.

Joan built a reputation for writing accurate stories and always meeting deadlines.

And she soon became correspondent for the Ayrshire Post too.

National papers, who regularly contacted Jim Smith, also knew they could rely on Joan’s local knowledge if a big story broke in the Girvan area.

Girvan Town Council meetings were a great source of news for Joan throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.

Joan had to look councillors in the face in the street, so she knew she had to be scrupulously accurate in her coverage.

This she was, and town councillors and townspeople alike respected Joan’s fair and balanced reporting.

Joan Smith certainly wasn’t the archetypal newshound of the 60s, an era when the image was of cynical hard-drinking chain-smoking hacks.

Joan’s style was refined charm, and it served her very well.

Away from the news, Joan was a long-time member of Girvan Camera Club, and was an avid reader.

She was a wonderful mum to her late son Robin, and her daughter Linda. And a much loved granny and great granny.