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 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 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.
[1] Some of the best journalists and photographers of the time produced in-depth journalism, high-quality photography and a wide range of subject matter.
[8] The work of photographers such as Don McCullin, Eve Arnold, Lord Snowdon, Terry O'Neill, and David Bailey was featured alongside articles by writers such as Ian Fleming, Bruce Chatwin, Jilly Cooper, and Nicholas Tomalin.
[3] One of Smith's obituarists described him as "the godfather" of a "golden age", and said he personified "a benign indulgence that concealed a sharp eye for talent and an instinct for the original".
[1] In December 1966, when the Editor's chair of The Sunday Times became vacant, Smith "made it clear he had no ambitions to edit the paper".
Books, films, television, radio, music, theatre and art were all examined and celebrated every week under Smith's seven–year editorship.
Revelling in ideas and stories prompted by readers (who were rewarded with a bottle of champagne) the column continued until, approaching his eighties, Smith retired in 2004.
[10] A deputy editor on the Magazine, Mark Edmonds, said that "for all his flamboyance, Smith was also a heavyweight in the professional sense, frequently publishing ground-breaking material.