Curt Smith
Senior Lecturer in English
BA State University of New York at Geneseo
Presidential rhetoric; American presidents of the radio/television age; public speaking; sports broadcasting, especially but not limited to baseball, football, basketball, and hockey
Research/Writing interests
As White House speechwriter, Curt Smith wrote more speeches than anyone for President George H.W. Bush. Says The New York Times: “His work is the high point of Bush familial eloquence.” Smith is also the author of 13 books, former Gannett reporter and The Saturday Evening Post senior editor, and America's leading baseball radio/TV historian. He has hosted XM Satellite Radio, Smithsonian Institution, Baseball Hall of Fame, and now National Public Radio affiliate programming; been named Associated Press New York State best radio commentator; and written for ESPN TV and many newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and The Washington Post. Smith joined the University of Rochester faculty in 1998. He teaches Public Speaking, using video, text, and class lecture to illustrate language and delivery, and Presidential Rhetoric, etching how U.S. presidents communicate by press conference, text address, and extemporaneous speech. Says NBC broadcaster Bob Costas: “Curt Smith stands up for the beauty of words.”
Selected publications
- Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story, Potomac Books 2009
- The Voice: Mel Allen’s Untold Story, Lyons Press 2007
- Voices of Summer: Ranking Baseball’s 101 All-Time Best Announcers, Carroll and Graf 2005
- What Baseball Means to Me: A Celebration of Our National Pastime, TIME Warner Books 2002
- Storied Stadiums: Baseball’s History through Its Ballparks, Carroll and Graf 2001
- Our House: A Tribute to Fenway Park, Contemporary 1999
- Of Mikes and Men: The Best Tales of Football’s Best Announcers, Diamond Communications 1998
- Windows on the White House: The Story of Presidential Libraries, Diamond Communications 1997
- The Storytellers: The Best Tales of Baseball’s Best Announcers, Macmillan 1995
- The Red Sox Fan's Little Book of Wisdom, Diamond Communications 1995
- Voices of the Game: The History of Baseball Broadcasting, Simon and Schuster 1992
- Long Time Gone: The Age of Turmoil Remembered, Icarus Press 1982
- America’s Dizzy Dean, Bethany Press 1978
Forthcoming
- In 2009, Smith contributed chapters to four books: The Final Four of Everything, ranking the 32 greatest American presidential speeches and TV/film portrayals of the presidency (Simon & Schuster); Northsiders: Essays on the History and Culture of the Chicago Cubs (McFarland); Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox (Acta Sports); and The Miracle Has Landed, about the 1969 New York Mets (Maple Street Press). In 2011, he will contribute an essay, "Baseball and Mass Media: From Grantland Rice to ESPN," to the Cambridge Companion to Baseball (Cambridge Press Books).
Teaching
Courses in presidential rhetoric and public speaking. Smith also helps to oversee the English department's internship program, linking English majors to local and national newspapers, magazines, publishing and non-profit firms, and radio and television stations.
Recent undergraduate courses
- Presidential Rhetoric
- Public Speaking
- Internship program
Honors and activities
- Elected to Judson Welliver Society of former presidential speechwriters, having written, among other speeches, the "Just War" Persian Gulf address; Margaret Thatcher Medal of Freedom; and speech on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Prior inductees include Clark Clifford, Theodore Sorenson, Patrick Buchanan, and William Safire.
- Host, XM Satellite Radio Voices of the Game broadcast from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Guests interviewed included Ken Harrelson, Harry Kalas, Jon Miller, and Dave Niehaus.
- Host, Perspectives, weekly public affairs series on National Public Radio affiliates WXXI Rochester and WNED Buffalo, New York. Guests have included Stephen Ambrose, Lynn Cheney, Bob Costas, and Juan Williams.
- Radio commentary named “Best in New York State” by Associated Press and New York State Broadcasters Association.
- TV political analyst, Rochester, New York, CBS outlet WROC. In this role, Smith has hosted the political series Perfectly Clear and Talking Point.
- Wrote and co-produced ESPN TV’s 1994-95 Voices of the Game documentary series. Researched ABC/ESPN TV’s 2001-02 SportsCentury series.
- Columnist, Gatehouse Media Newspapers, Major League Baseball official Web site MLBlogs, and Jewish World Review politicalmavens.com.
- Keynoted numerous conferences, including 2007 Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, and hosted series at Smithsonian Institution, Baseball Hall of Fame, and George Bush Presidential Library, among others. Will address University of Rochester Phelps Colloquium, February 2010.
- Appeared on network radio/TV including ABC, Armed Forces Radio, BBC, CBC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, ESPN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Has written for, among others, American Enterprise Magazine, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, Sports Illustrated, and The Washington Post.
- Finalist, 2002 Seymour Award, Best Baseball Book of the Year (Storied Stadiums). Recipient, 2004 Writers and Books Literary Award for contribution to "Western New York audience." Elected to State University of New York at Geneseo and Rochester, New York, Frontier Field halls of fame.
- Member, Ford Frick Award broadcast committee, National Baseball Hall of Fame, and Museum of Broadcast Communications and National Radio Hall of Fame steering committee (originated 2007 posthumous induction of Franklin D. Roosevelt into Hall).
- Named among the "100 Outstanding Alumni" of SUNY's 2.6 million-graduate system
