Animation by Paul Smith-Sound
with the help of www.freesfx.co.uk
Robin song (©)Geoff Sample
It was with great sadness that we learned of Paul
Smith's sudden death on the 20th March, 2007 in his eighty eighth year.
He
was a great supporter, and a major contributor to the Winsham Web Museum.
In what ever he did
he brought a great enthusiasm and knowledge to bear, and his lively mind
and insatiable curiosity remained with him to the end.
A man is known by his works, and by dedicating this gallery to his
memory
seems to me the right way to remember him.
The robin that sings unendingly is, for me, a piquant reminder of his
tireless enthusiasm. All I had to do was suggest that an animated robin
might be a nice idea for 'Bugs'n'Bees' and a few days later the sequence of
drawings seen above dropped through my letter box. Adding the sound took
me considerably longer!
His support for the Internet was not limited to the Web Museum ,and his
contribution to the Parish Web site was equally lively. His regular
contributions by way of the 'Bugs'n'Bees' feature, with his wonderful
illustrations, often presented on a scrap of paper, sometimes late, were a
constant source of delight and information.
Paul was also a regular contributor ,in earlier years, to the Joint Parish
Magazine, when his 'Winsham Whispers' were a great source of amusement and
interest.His 'whispers' were not always well received ,and Paul told me that he had sometimes
been threatened with a solicitor's letter, but the journalist in him
,which was always there, just under the surface, never flinched in the face
of a good story . One thing for sure is that while he could be stubborn,
there was never any malice in his motivation.
Paul Smith was a man of many talents. His books about
his early life delighted many. He was also an enthusiastic flier of light
aircraft, a broadcaster, a photographer. In his early seventies he
successfully took an Open University degree. He was also a successful
farmer in Purtington for some forty years, before coming to live in
Winsham in so called retirement.
With his passing Winsham has lost a wonderful character ,a man of high intelligence, strong
opinions and an artist with a great talent for representing the
wildlife and and flora that he loved so much. He is greatly missed.
John Sullivan