In Memory Of Catherine Smith – A Good And True Friend

I wasn’t able to attend the memorial service for my friend Catherine Smith a couple of weeks ago.  She was a good friend that even many within Georgia’s political circles may not have known by name, but should have.  Such is the role that those who work fiercely and tirelessly behind the scenes for causes mostly championed by what has now been the minority party in Georgia for roughly a quarter century.

I hesitate to introduce anyone posthumously based on their politics.  And yet, this was our introduction and the reason for many of our initial interactions.  Ultimately, it’s integral to what made our friendship special and to the message of her memory that I’m attempting to belatedly bring today.

I can’t recall the first time we met over fifteen years ago.  I know it would have been at a public event of some sort where the emerging scene of Georgia’s political bloggers were present.  She and her (and now my) mutual friend Juliana Illari published a blog that wasn’t just left leaning, but often a full throated advocacy for the progressive wing of the then still blue-dog Georgia Democratic party.

In those days, blogging was fun. Georgia’s political scene wasn’t as hyper partisan. Many of the Republicans of the day had been Democrats a decade or so earlier.  Fights at the capitol that mattered were within the supermajority Republican caucus – often settled along the lines of suburban vs rural rather than red or blue.

It was easy to be friends with those whom you disagreed with and worked against. Catherine made that part easy.  She was fun, positive, engaging, and sincere.  

I truly wish I could remember and retell the details of her high school classmates choosing their school colors.  In the spirit of “Boaty McBoatface”, they chose something like opaque and gray.  And then made a school flag… 

Years later, she was instrumental in having me as a guest on her podcast/radio show The Kudzu Vine that she and a few others hosted weekly.  It was and is definitely left leaning if not as completely progressive as her blog, but the audience was not aimed at those I aligned with.  The beauty of that show was that when I appeared, it was never a setup and there was never a gotcha question.  

They asked me there and I participated when I could because Catherine, Tim Shifflett, and David McLaughlin honestly wanted to know and understand what Republicans were thinking, and why they were doing the things they did.  It’s the kind of questions journalists used to ask instead of framing every story around a narrative before requesting a quote for their piece.

Over these years we established not only a mutual trust but a real friendship. Professionally, we were almost always on opposite sides of every issue. Disagreements were never personal. Not only was there never an unkind word, but I can specifically recall days at the capital where our paths would cross on key stressful days where she would take a moment to remind me we were friends, and would be when it was over.

America and with it Georgia’s politics became a lot more partisan after President Trump’s 2016 election. The Covid shut down changed our social interaction and for me, my habits of showing up to a lot of “networking” events with other politicos.  A move to the coast took me out of a lot of Metro Atlanta events where I would see my mutual friends.

And yet, friends we remained.  Usually at her initiative, She, Juliana, and I did manage to get together at a Waffle House or diner about annually.  

We talked and laughed.  We almost never discussed politics.  It wasn’t because we consciously tried to avoid it or felt the need to tiptoe around it.  We just enjoyed each other’s company enough that we had better stories to tell and memories to share.  That’s what real friends do.

I do regret not being the one to reach out more often.  In looking through old texts in hopes of finding one anecdote I did come across an old text where I did express appreciation for what I’ve tried to convey above.  It seemed a lot of the rules for political interaction changed after 2016.  Catherine never got that memo, and I remain grateful for it.