Zay N. Smith
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Zay N. Smith (May 1, 1949 – May 11, 2020) was a columnist and author known for his work at the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
''. He wrote a popular column from 1995 to 2008 called ''QT,'' which was a mixture of humor and comment.


Early life and education

Born Zay Nockton Smith, Smith grew up in
Palos Park, Illinois Palos Park is a village in southwestern Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 4,899. Geography Palos Park is located at (41.665682, -87.836633). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Palos Park ...
, the son of an English teacher mother and a father who was an airline pilot turned architect and designer. Smith was a graduate of
Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...
, did postgraduate work at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
and taught at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
.


Professional career

Smith's first newspaper job was with the Worth-Palos Reporter. Smith later joined the Chicago Sun-Times. In 1977, he was a member of a team of investigative reporters who participated in a newspaper-directed undercover purchase of a Chicago dive bar. The Sun-Times bought the bar and ran it undercover for four months to document payoffs and graft. Smith himself "worked" in the bar, under the pseudonym Norty the Bartender. The 25-part series was published starting in January 1978. Smith wrote every story in the series and then wrote a book, titled "The Mirage." The series was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, but did not win because the Pulitzer Prizes' board objected to the Sun-Times' use of undercover techniques. Smith started writing the QT column in 1995. He continued writing the column online after leaving the Sun-Times in 2008. He published his column on the Internet at ZaySmith.com. Smith's column had many running features, which include the following: *''We Have Seen the Present, and It Does Not Work'' *''The Not Me Decade, in which everybody else is responsible for everything'' *''Modern Education + the Criminal Mind = '' *''QT Abridged Too Far Dictionary of the English Language'' *''Lest We Forget that the Dark Ages Were a Faith-Based Initiative'' *''QT Trickle-On Economics Update'' *''The Case for the San Andreas Fault'' *''QT Modern Corporate Gibberish of the Week'' *''The Case for Zero Tolerance of Modern School Administrators'' *''QT Grammar R Us Seminar on the English Language'' Smith's column also featured a running gag in which readers report how many
search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
hits they can find for the phrase "tap-dancing militant Islamic fundamentalists" (or some similar variation). The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' once referred to Smith as "our favorite Chicago columnist since
Mike Royko Michael Royko Jr. (September 19, 1932 – April 29, 1997) was an American newspaper columnist from Chicago. Over his 30-year career, he wrote over 7,500 daily columns for the ''Chicago Daily News'', the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', and the ''Chicago ...
." Reader contributions play a significant role in QT's content. One frequent contributor topic is punned variations on current headlines or movie titles; the best (or worst) are rewarded with the admonition "Stop it. Stop it now". Before starting the QT column, Smith worked as an investigative reporter on stories ranging from laetrile smuggling to religious cults, as a foreign correspondent on such stories as the pilgrimages of
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and as a writer of major features. He played a key role in the 1978
Mirage Tavern The Mirage Tavern was a drinking establishment at 731 N. Wells St. in Chicago purchased by the watchdog group Better Government Association and the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' in 1977 to investigate widespread allegations of official corruption and sha ...
investigation, in which undercover reporters operated a bar on
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
's Near North Side while hidden photographers took pictures of city officials accepting bribes.


Death

Smith died of lung cancer on May 11, 2020.


Personal

He was the father of two sons, Bryant and Zachary.


References

1."Smith queues up comeback" http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15318826/on-the-qt-smith-queues-up-comeback-as-wbez-blogger 2. "New Digs" http://www.kgbreport.com/archives/2013/03/new-digs.shtml 3. "From the archives: The Mirage Tavern, 35 years later" http://blogs.suntimes.com/politics/2013/01/from_the_archives_the_mirage_tavern_35_years_later.html 4.""The QT: Hu's on first, awesome bacon ads, and more" http://theweek.com/article/index/245372/the-qt-hus-on-first-awe-over-awesome-bacon-ads-and-more {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Zay N. American male journalists American columnists Chicago Sun-Times people 1949 births 2020 deaths People from Palos Park, Illinois Journalists from Illinois Lawrence University alumni University of Iowa alumni Northwestern University faculty