Washington City Paper: Contents for Nov. 4

Mr. Smith Stays in Washington
Political gadfly Sam Smith keeps buzzing and biting.

Cover Story

If the walls of Sam Smith's office could talk, the neighbors would have complained about the noise by now. Smith's cluttered second-story Dupont Circle walk-up is a kind of a clubhouse for progressive politics, down to the hand-lettered sign by the door: “Open by appointment or by chance.” Visitors to Club Sam are immediately cloaked by walls covered with photos, cartoons, leaflets, newspaper clippings, invitations, and personal letters, which taken together tell a kind of cacophonous living history of Smith's political life and times.

Smith, the 56-year-old editor of the Progressive Review (formerly the DC Gazette, and before that, the Capitol East Gazette) and longtime local activist, is no stranger to clamorous debate—in fact, he's caused more than his share of it himself. His office walls pulsate with three decades of political tumult. Here's a photo of Marion Barry back when Smith first met him, during the 1966 bus boycott of D.C. Transit, staged to protest a fare hike. Next to that is an invitation to Barry's Jan. 21, 1990, announcement of his candidacy for re-election, an eventabruptly canceled by Barry's arrest at the Vista Hotel.... Continued

Issue of Nov. 4 - 10, 1994

News and Features

Mr. Smith Stays in Washington
Political gadfly Sam Smith keeps buzzing and biting.
Cover Story By Tom McNichol
Invasion of the Amphibious Tourists
Aboard the Sitting Duck, Sightseers Cruise Both Surf and Turf
The City By Eddie Dean
Long Live the King
A Washington Lawyer Protects Elvis' Persona
The City By Lisa Gray
Not Only God Can Paint a Tree
The City By Clara Jeffery
Poor Record
Marion Barry is the poor people's candidate—but is he their provider?
The City By Jonetta Rose Barras and Clara Jeffery
First Akbar and Jeff, Now This
The Mail By Rod Dreher
Sealed With a Hiss
The Mail By William Addams Reitwiesner
Inaccuracy in Media
The Mail By Dean Baker
Still Your Best Entertainment Value
The Mail By Heusted McNeill
Taking the Race Bait
The Mail By David DeSantis
Gender Bender Defender
The Mail By Wayne Beyer
Leaving Barryland Behind
The Mail By William E. Hartgen Jr.
Moronic Is as Moronic Does
The Mail By Marco J. Randazza
No Funhouse
The Mail By Panos Kakaviatos
Grandmother's Little Helper
The Mail By John Acher