William Rawson Smith was known as many things – a writer, author, musician, brother, husband and father. A past member of The Red & Black board of directors, Smith was a graduate of the University of Georgia and a local musician.

On Feb. 19, 2023, Smith died unexpectedly from complications of amyloidosis, a rare and often under-diagnosed blood disease.

During his time in Athens, Smith wrote for The Red & Black and was the lead guitarist for his band, Tragic Dancers. The rock band played alongside iconic 1980s groups like 10,000 Maniacs and The Replacements. When the group’s equipment was stolen, R.E.M. played a benefit show to fundraise for Tragic Dancers, assisting them in returning to the stage. Smith served as Editorial Page Editor at The Red & Black while at UGA, also interning for Campus Voice magazine in Knoxville, TN (1985). After graduation in 1986 he went on to be an Editorial Assistant at Adweek and a researcher/reporter for Spy magazine, both in New York City.

A lifelong passion for music and art also showed itself in his work, and some of his early reporting includes art reviews in Art Papers magazine. He would revisit this area when researching his book about his great-grandfather’s art collection and the formation of the High Museum, Villa Clare: The Purposeful Life and Timeless Art Collection of J.J. Haverty (Mercer University Press, 2006).

In Georgia, as Georgia Trend’s first staff reporter he covered business and politics across the state. He also contributed to the NY Times, Atlanta Magazine and many other periodicals during this time. He started Highpoint in the Atlanta neighborhood of Virginia-Highlands in 1992, eventually closing the alternative publication when he was hired as a financial reporter by the Chicago Sun-Times.

After covering the markets in Chicago he returned to Atlanta to work as an editor/writer for CNN Interactive, leaving to work in executive communications at the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. This would lead to his speechwriting career for CEOs and corporate leaders, and he went on to work for UPS and then Coca-Cola as a communications executive.

Smith is survived by his wife, Amy Bonesteel Smith, their children, Jinkinson Payne Smith, Georgia Elizabeth Smith and Ellery Haverty Smith, as well as siblings Elizabeth Crew, Clarence Smith, Laura Brown, James Smith, E. Kendrick Smith and Anthony Smith.

About the Fund

Created to honor Smith, the fund will be used to create a $1,000 scholarship for a current Red & Black student staffer with demonstrated interest in business and investigative journalism. The inaugural scholarship will be presented at the April 2024 student awards banquet.

About The Red & Black

Our student-run newsroom serves the University of Georgia and Athens communities with daily news at redandblack.com and a weekly newspaper, The Red & Black, which was founded in 1893. Every year more than 250 students participate in our organization, getting hands-on experience in community journalism and newsroom leadership. An independent 501c3 nonprofit, The Red & Black receives no funding from the university and supports itself by ad sales, events, merchandise and donations.

William Rawson Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund

By The Red & Black

William Rawson Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund

A Red & Black business and investigative journalism scholarship

Team Members