Fans of Jim Smith, former Post Searchlight editor and columnist, then proprietor of The Book Nook, will want to get a copy of a recently published book. Titled, “Jim’s Opinions and Thoughts Through the Years,” it is a compilation of favorite columns written by Smith for The Post Searchlight from 1990 to 2011.

The book owes its existence to the dedicated work of Jim’s wife Faye, who retired in 2010 from 34 years of classroom teaching, the latter ones in the Decatur County Schools. The couple, both now retired and living in Tallahassee, continue to be involved in community and educational pursuits.

Subject matters of the columns range from family anecdotes to celebrating Bainbridge and Decatur County events, local landmarks, and legends, such as Jack Wingate.

They are observations of a man who has a zest for life and an incurable curiosity about everything from historical events to explaining how to talk to youngsters and “old people.”

All are written as Jim would tell you in ordinary conversation. They are informative and entertaining. Many are poignant.

In the preface Faye tells the readers, “Jim often wrote about the community, its events and politics, but this book is for the family, so I chose some of the more personal columns.”

Somehow, readers of the Bainbridge Post Searchlight have always lived vicariously through Jim Smith’s writings, as if they too were members of his family.

We have rejoiced in his pleasures and felt the heartache of his trials. When his son in Texas was seriously injured in an auto accident, we were there in spirit with Faye and Jim to help him through his recovery. We felt the pain and uncertainty of the family with how best to cope and care for ailing and aging parents. We even relived the killer tornado that swept through and destroyed Faye’s home neighborhood in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

We have skied the slopes in Colorado and joined in the family Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, right down to what we had to eat and drink.

We can now even join him on the trip of a lifetime to his ancestral homeland—Italy.

We all, in one way or another, can relate to what Jim Smith writes. We ARE family.

Even if you are a newcomer to the area who has never read a Smith column, you may “join the family.” The book is available for $13 at www.createspace.com/3917729, an Amazon company.