Godfrey Smith

Godfrey Smith FRSL (12 May 1926 — 22 December 2017) was an English newspaper journalist closely associated with The Sunday Times of London throughout much of his career. He was editor of The Sunday Times Magazine for seven years and of the paper's Weekly Review for another seven. He was subsequently a columnist in the newspaper from 1979 to his retirement in 2004. He was also the author of five novels (the most successful being The Business of Loving) and three non-fiction works, and the editor of five anthologies. Smith was renowned in the world of journalism for his ebullience, extravagance, and love of fine dining. Early life Smith was born in Brentford in West London on 12 May 1926, the elder son of a Bank of England clerk, Reginald Montague Smith, and Ada May Smith (née Damen). He was raised in Surbiton, a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, and from the age of 14 during World War II with his maternal grandparents in the market town of Alton, Hampshire. He was educated at Surbiton County Grammar School and then Eggars Grammar School in Alton. In 1944, Smith went up to Worcester College, Oxford, where he combined reading Philosophy, politics and economics with training as a navigator in the Oxford University Air Squadron. He did not see war action, being sent to the Far East as a careers advisor to Royal Air Force (RAF) service members who were being demobilised. Smith returned to Worcester College after three years service with the RAF, and was President of the Oxford Union in the Michaelmas term of 1950, before graduating with a 2:1 degree.