A great public servant and bon vivant
One of my favorite people, Ruffin Smith, lives in one of my favorite places: Mississippi.
I love people who have colorful personalities with strong opinions wrapped in courtly charm. I especially celebrate them when they have the kind of lilting, gentlemanly Southern drawl as is possessed by Smith.
"He is a bon vivant," I had told Tink before they met. Smith is the only person I know to whom I ascribe this French term for "good liver of life." He is an adventurer and pursuer of anything that catches his fancy.
His quick wit is fueled by a strong intellect and the fact that he is a serious reader of books.
Tink and I were visiting a place we love, the Alluvian hotel in Greenwood for a writing retreat.
On a recent trip to Greenwood Tink and I dined with the affable, always entertaining Smith. Over crab cakes and steak, I asked, "Are you still mayor?"
He nodded. Ruffin is the mayor of a tiny town called Louise. Though there are less than 300 residents in this place in Humphreys County, Smith takes his elected position most seriously.
When a newspaper publisher forwarded me an editorial he had written on Smith and his city council, I was proud. Ruffin and his council, recognizing the economic challenges for their small town, had voted unanimously to cut their small salaries in half. The editorial proclaimed that these elected officials should be serving on a state or national level.
Why didn't this story make national news? It's the kind of good news for which folks are starved. These are stand-up folks who did a stand-up thing. They will still have the same worries, aggravations and challenges at 50 percent less pay than they had before but, from all reports, no one hesitated.
When I read the editorial, I texted him, "Should we send money?" He laughed it off. I'm serious, though.
He's the only bon vivant I know. I don't want that to change.
Ronda Rich, author of "What Southern Women Know," writes the Dixie Diva column that appears in several newspapers.
This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "A great public servant and bon vivant ."