Remembering George A. Smith IV

On July 7th I received an e-mail that George A. Smith IV was missing on his honeymoon. In subsequent weeks accounts of George's disappearance have been splashed across newpapers and television shows across the country. These reports all tell bits and shreds of a tragic loss, but little do they tell of the George that I had the pleasure of knowing and working with for two plus years.

George was a special guy. I will always remember his dry sense of humor. We were a small research department, just myself and two analysts, and our department created numerous reports for clients. Proofreading is a must-do chore. George and the other analyst would swap reports for proofing and signify that they were proofread by initialling the copy. George would proof a report and initial it, but he would write "B+" and "Try Harder" or "Nice Work, B-." In context, it was very funny, since the quality of the work and the "grade" were totally disconnected. It added a note of levity to some serious work.

George was a special guy. I will always remember how fond he was of his family. Several years ago, he went on a cruise with his parents and his sister. For many young adults the thought of going on vacation with "the family" is anathema. George looked forward to the trip, so it was no surprise to me that he was on a honeymoon cruise.

George was a special guy. In the two plus years that he worked for me, I cannot remember him ever having an unkind word for anyone.

George was a special guy. No matter what task I put before him, he would forge ahead, meet the milestones, occassionally ask for clarification and dependably got the job done.  No whining, no complaining, no but must I's. That was not him.

George was a special guy. He had his wisdom teeth removed on a Friday and assured me that he would be in to work on Monday. Being more familiar with the process than he was, I had my doubts, so I was not surprised Monday morning to see his desk empty. When I got into my office there was no phone message either. But, I was not prepared for the email that was awaiting me. It had a digital picture attached of him with an extremely swollen jaw. The picture was worth thousands of words.

No matter what happened that fateful night on the waters between Greece and Turkey, the real story about George A. Smith IV is not the sensational disappearance. It is the patchwork of memories that those who knew him will hold in their hearts forever.

Comments

[MELLISS J.L. COBURN]

My thoughts & prayers are with Geroge Smith IV & his family at this trying time. I do believe that foul play was involved, just as I believe the same for the Natalee Holloway case in Aruba. I wonder though, if George's wife & family stepped up and kept themselves in the media, offered a reward for possible information, if authorities could process information any faster? I am like any other person & want justice for both of these special people. They didn't ask for nor did they deserve what has happened to them. I hope for everyone's sake involved that both George's & Natalee's tragedies are resolved so that the family & friends can begin to heal and possibly have some peace of mind. I can not fathom what it must be like to not know what has happend to your loved one.

[TD]

Until very recently I learned that the reports of the missing newlywed was actually the same George Smith I had worked with several years ago. I'm appalled by how the media has reported this story especially in its portrayal of the kind of man George is.
The adjectives people used when describing George were along the lines of "brilliant", "hard working" and "dedicated". These words were not thrown around frequently in our office but reserved for people like George only. My hope in submitting this post is that somehow the truth about who George is overtakes what has been reported and I pray that the truth about what happened to George is brought to light.

[Deb Cote]

Hey Amanda,
I came across your blog and saw your post regarding George Smith. We have been covering George’s disappearance from the beginning, and many other shows followed, including Scarborough Country, Larry King, The Today Show, Nancy Grace, etc. In fact, these shows often call upon our correspondents to give them their information.

We have heard so much about the disappearance of George, but little about the man himself. Underneath this horrible tragedy is a family who is grieving, scared, confused and heartbroken. We recently aired a piece (Friday, August 19th) where we discovered that many crimes that occur on board cruise ships are never prosecuted. We interviewed a great attorney, an ex-chief security officer for Carnival, etc and it is awful what goes on onboard cruise ships when a crime occurs. We are adamant about not letting this story go away, and not letting the cruise lines get away with covering up what they did wrong and to keep George’s disappearance in the public eye.

We are preparing a piece to air soon that describes George and the kind of guy he was. I saw your blog and your description of George and it’s wonderful. He sounds like such a character.

We would love to interview you about your experiences with George. I believe it would be a nice tribute to him and to show the country who he is and what is being missed.

Amanda, please call me at your earliest convenience, or write back when you can. I’d love to talk to you about this further.

Sincerely,

Deb Cote
Producer
"A Current Affair"
9 Broadcast Plaza
Secaucus, NJ 07096
201-305-7290

[Scot Roy]

Amanda - Was my comment intentionally deleted?

[A. M.]

Deb, maybe you should have a bit more respect. The point of this site is not to over-glorify and take advantage of this poor man's story. I cannot believe your audacity in butting in like this. If your comment was deleted, I'm quite sure that it was purposeful and with great reason behind it.

[Amanda Watlington]

Yes! Some comments were in fact deleted. I generally do not delete comments, but this post was not written to stimulate commentary.

[Joe Takher]

My thoughts and prayers go to the Smith family. I can't even begin to imagine what the family is going through loosing such a beautiful young man. I'm sure he had so much potential in life. As the author of this article writes about George and his family ties, it really sets him apart from other guys his age. Other men at this age would dread on going on a cruise with their families, instead they would be rather out with their friends. George seemed like a man who was very close to his family, something we do not see much of these days. Why do good people always have the bad luck??? Really sad to hear about stuff like this happen to angels.

[Joe]

Are there any more pictures you can put up of George. I would suggest adding more to your site here.

[Juno888]

I agree that joe.. george could put many picture as he can.. in their site... very ncie post//