Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

 

For some time, I have wanted to write to the Willow Springs newspaper  about my friend Etcyl Dee Smith. Smith was a genuine character.

 

A colorful character, it was reported, with some collaboration, that as a youthful teenager he threw a horse shoe, tied to a rope, across the power line at the city's sub-station and when he pulled the rope, the shoe connected the wires, the voltage blew the system and caused an explosion and major power outage. People said Etcyl could not see for several hours or days, depending on what you believe.

 

Etcyl graduated from Willow Springs high school in the class of 1951.  He was in my sister's class and one of their most loyal supporters of the Willow Springs Bears, especially their debate and speech efforts. He never missed a Bear football game, but went mostly for the social 

aspects, more than the athletic efforts.

 

Etcyl attended five Universities.  Five universities for a total of ten weeks for all five.  He averaged a couple of weeks per school before getting bored and dropping out.  Etcyl was extremely smart, he just didn't march to the same drummer as most.  He was a person who read Wm. F. Buckley and other noted authors, and often commented that his was the hand that shook the hand of Socialist candidate Norman Thomas.

 

Etcyl did not pay Federal Income taxes during the Vietnam war period, this was his protest against the war, in action.  After the war ended, he leveled out, and paid his taxes with the IRS.

 

Smith ran the Smith Insurance Agency, the one that his father, Bill Smith, had started.  Etcyl took it to a higher level after attending many insurance institutes in Chicago.  He was brilliant in his insurance work, and had a large clientèle.  I traveled with him to southeast Missouri, where his agency insured large farming operations. The agency specialized in commercial insurance. His agency was located in the building now occupied by the Mexican restaurant on West Main Street in Willow Springs.

 

Etcyl loved literature and music.  His library was extensive. Etcyl read prominent authors, including Wm. F. Buckley.  His love of music brought him to a high fidelity system that was second to none in this town.  He had massive speakers with woofers and tweeters that were huge in size and gave Etcyl the purest in sound.  Dave Brubeck's jazz was one of his favorite venues. Brubeck was an innovator in modern jazz.  Brubeck was credited with the largest seller album in Jazz history with "Take Five" where he composed in unusual meters 5/4 time.

 

Etcyl drank some alcohol.  That caused him a lot of grief in his later years.  He told me on many occasions that, "Drinking was not his problem, he drank because of his problems." 

 

On occasion, Etcyl was an excellent speaker, In a speech to the staff of the Missouri Treasurers office he spoke of drinking alcohol for thirty years, so it was about time for sobriety.

 

I think of him often.

 

Wendell Bailey, Willow Springs