No one can accuse Rex Smith of not being versatile. ... "I was about two-thirds of the way through the book when this idea hit, and I came up with this musical autobiography instead.

"Rex's book is certainly the first one we start with." Smith, a well-known South Dakota historian and author, died Tuesday at his home in Box Elder at the age of 89.

Rex Smith retired in 2021 after 26 years with the Times Union, serving 18 of those years as the newspaper’s editor. He grew up in South Dakota's Black Hills but became a New Yorker in 1979. Opinion ...