All about Drue Smith

Famed "media queen of Nashville" died in December

First female reporter on Tennessee's Capitol Hill

First woman elected to member in the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

Local SPJ chapter's college scholarship fund named for her

Known for her outrageous attire

Reportorial mantra: "What's the bottom line?"

Authored political column for the Green Hills News at the time of her death

Reported for print, radio and television in her long career

Never told anyone her age

Was a staff member for Tennessee Gov. Frank Clement

Gave U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver his famed coonskin cap

Read more about Drue Smith's life and accomplishments

Remembering Drue

Recalling Nashville's beloved 'Media Queen,' who died in December 2001.

Skip to a topic:
First impressions of Drue | Drue's clothes | Drue the reporter | 'Drue's Views' | Drue-isms | Drue's advice | Drue the person

Told by Bob Loftin:

"Your first exposure to Drue was memorable. You always remember the view of Drue. But did you get to know the true Drue?

"For several years in the 1960s we had a daily morning progrom on WSM radio, This is WSM, which essentially was a coffee klatch. Several of us sat around the microphone talking about current events in Nashville, interspersed with the latest popular records.

"The studios at WSM were still in their original location, in the National Life building -- that was one block from the Capitol. Lots of times the hot topic of the day involved the governor, Frank Clement. We'd call Eddie Jones, his press secretary, to get the governor to speak with us by phone. And he did, most of the time.

"However, on one memorable occasion, around the spring of 1964, a member of the governor's staff was dispatched to WSM to discuss the topic, whatever that happened to be. Our receptionist had been notified to expect a guy from the governor's office.

"Upon arrival, the operator called to say, 'Your guest .... is on the way in.'

"When the studio door opened, there stood the governor's representative: a vision in glowing pink.

"Matching pink dress, pink coat, pink shoes, pink stockings. I remember thinking, 'What is this? Who is kidding us?' And a really big question: 'Where did she get those pink stockings?'

"After a stunned moment, we heard, [mimics Drue's voice] 'Hah. I'm Drue.' That was my introduction to Drue.

"Now the crux of the story is that she sat down and joined our group, charmed us all with her wit and wisdom, and we really began to know the true Drue."

Told by radio personality and former state legislator Tommy Burnett:

From former Gov. Ned McWherter:

"I came to this community when I joined public service in 1968 .. There were two people when I got here and two people here when I left. One was Drue Smith. The other was John Wilder."

"I don't know a more colorful person in the world than Drue," said Gov. Don Sundquist, who recalled serving as king at the annual Moon Pie and RC Festival in Bell Buckle, Tenn., one year with Drue as queen. "Everything she wore that day looked normal."

Bob Loftin recalled preparing to portray religious-leader-and-cowboy-outfitter Tony Alamo one year for the SPJ Gridiron dinner. "Drue loved to go down there and get those clothes. So when I played Tony Alamo, she said, 'You have got to use these clothes.'" She brought Loftin items including a cowboy jacket and a Stetson-style cowboy hat totally encrusted in rhinestones. "This is a real hat that she did get down there -- [he mimics Drue's high-pitched rasp] 'on sale.' This hat is like a 5 -pound flowerpot on your head. It is stiff as a board, and she insisted that I wear it."

"Drue was expected in paradise. She had many very good friends there to welcome her home. Drue, in her hot pink robe, violet wings and Day-Glo halo, is now in charge of the ethereal version of 'Drue's Views.'" --Statement from Drue's friends, Holly Spann, Maxine Roberts, Candy Gorrell and Doris Medlin

To the tune of 'Am I Blue?', as sung by Bob Loftin:
Am I Drue?
Here's a clue
Clothes of pink, red and purple
Yellow, blue

But to review
It is true
I am queen of The Hill
I am Drue

Drue the reporter

From Gary Cunningham:

"She'd come in and she'd say, 'Gary, I talked to Don today.'" Don Hillenbrand? "'No, Don Sundquist.' I'd say, 'OK, Governor Sundquist.'" When Sundquist fell sick once, "you know how we journalists are -- we're so caring and so forth -- she would call out to the Executive Residence every day to get a report on him ... One time she even drove out there and she took some soup to him."

From Gov. Don Sundquist:

Frank Gibson, political editor at The Tennessean:

"Many young reporters today thought that Drue was strange, might be a little eccentric. They didn't see that the attire is what got her entree, got her into things. Once she got inside, she worked the room, every inch of it. She went to every event, picked up every nugget she could. She reported some of it. She kept much more of it to herself. She even 'worked' other reporters on Capitol Hill. People thought that was strange. But that's just old-school. That's just Drue. She would go places that young reporters today wouldn't bother to go, and therefore she picked up information that other reporters today would not pick up."

Green Hills News publisher Gary Cunningham:

Former Gov. Ned McWherter:

"I remember Drue as a reporter, a journalist, if you please. She was dedicated, she was committed, she cared about getting the story right. That's where she picked up that 'bottom line' she always used. She wanted to get her story accurate. And I may have given her a little preference -- because the Capitol Hill press corps kind of changed over the years. Some of 'em would do me better than than others, and I always chose Drue because I knew she'd do me right.

"I fell in love with her in 1968 when I came here. I loved her. I loved her until she passed away. We all will miss Drue Smith. God bless her."

Radio personality and former state legislator Tommy Burnett recalled chatting one day in Legislative Plaza with Tennessean political reporter Larry Daughtrey:

As recalled by publisher Gary Cunningham:

"She came to see me one day," he said. "I knew her, but I didn't know her that well."

Drue asked him if he'd be interested in publishing her political reports. He responded: "'You know, we've got a lot of editorial, but we don't have enough space.' She knew that was a no. So she said, 'I'll let you run it free for four weeks.' ...

"So we ran her column in our paper. And all the sudden I'm in the office one day and the secretary says, 'Gary, Governor McWherter is on the line.' I picked it up and I said, 'Gary Cunningham.'

'Gary, this is Ned. I just wanted to call you and tell you how much I enjoyed reading Drue's column today.'

"It had only been on the street about three hours. I said, 'Thank you, governor,' and I was thinking, 'to have the governor call me ...' "

Another call came in to the office: "'Aubrey Harwell is on the line.' I thought, 'God, am I being sued?' ...

"'Gary, I just want you to know I have enjoyed Drue's column in the paper today, and I'm going to look forward to reading it every week. '"

Another call came in, from Cone Oil Co. chairman Tom Cone.

"'Gary, Tom Cone, I've met you on a couple of occasions. I want you to know I enjoy reading Drue's column.'

"This is now about six hours after we've hit the street. I'm walking around on air, I'm excited. I thought, 'Boy, with this kind of readership, we'll soon be [a publishing] empire.'

"About a year and a half later," Cunningham discovered Drue "had put her marketing expertise to work. She went around and carried them a paper and said, 'Read my column and then call this phone number.'"

The rest of the story, as told by former Gov. Ned McWherter:

Gov. Don Sundquist, speaking to Drue's publisher, Gary Cunningham:

Frank Gibson recalled when the Tennessee Vols' star quarterback visited the legislature:

Annabelle Clement O'Brien recalled being a girl when her brother Frank Clement was elected governor of Tennessee and brought to the Clements to Capitol Hill from Dickson County: "(We) knew very little, if any, about what you do when you get to the governor's office ... one day my brother called me into his office and said, 'Annabelle, I want you to meet Drue Smith, and I would like for you to learn a lot from her, because she is very intelligent. She knows all that goes on on Capitol Hill, and it would help you-- and it could help me -- if you knew some of the things that she knows.'

"And so I took that very seriously. So she invited me to go to Atlanta with her to the convention of the American radio and television industry. And I thought about what my brother had said, about 'learning a lot from Drue.'

"Huntley and Brinkley were the big [names] in news and journalism on both radio and television at that time -- and when we got to Atlanta, Drue knew everyone in Atlanta at the convention and called Mr. Huntley and Mr. Brinkley by their first names! That was when I was in awe.

And when we came home, then she told me several things in public life that you should and should not do. One she told me, I have never forgotten. She said, 'Always be prepared to be called on unexpectedly.' She said, 'Always have an extra pair of earrings in your pocket.' So til this day I do that.

"'Always, when you enter a room, particularly if you don't know where you're going, wear a pair of sunglasses ... Always carry a large bag,' which I generally do, 'and in it, if you can, put a little bit of fur.' She said, 'That way, if you don't know what you're talking about, you'll go slowly and they will eventually think you're a pretty good person, that maybe you know something you haven't told them yet. But they'll be thinking about what you have on.'"

... "I thought, you know, Frank Clement was right. He introduced me to the very first person on Capitol Hill who taught me a lot ... I want to say to Drue today -- and I know she is looking down -- I tried to do what you said all those years. I made a few mistakes, but Drue, thanks for the memories."

Drue the person

"Drue was the essence of beauty, of style, of wit, of knowledge. She was a walking history of Tennessee politics. She was symbol for women, a true Southern belle who had transcended that term."--Statement from Drue's friends, Holly Spann, Maxine Roberts, Candy Gorrell and Doris Medlin

By Tennessean political editor Frank Gibson:

"Drue liked to tell interviewers that she didn't take anyting seriously, including herself. She wouldn't appreciate me saying this today, but that was not 'the bottom line.' She was a loyal friend and an astute journalist, a charming female, a pioneering woman, and a faithful volunteer."

Lt. Gov John Wilder:

"She was good. She as the best. She was committed. She had integrity. She knew right from wrong. She knew the truth. She had had convictions and she stood on them. She's going to be missed. She was a reporter. She was constructive, not destructive. She held hands and didn't point fingers. She understood government. She was faithful. She never violated a confidence. If she could say something good about you, she'd say it, or she didn't say anything. She had a full life. She lived until she died. She left quick and that's the way she wanted to go. She was full of love, she had no hate. I admired her, I respected her, I loved her. She was a friend. She did much, much, much, much, much more than most. She put first things first. The state of Tennessee is a better place because of her. She was loved by all ... If the world had what Drue had, we would not have the problems we have today. We should be glad. Drue's not gone. She's took a good trip. We're going to miss her ... and I'm going to close with this: God, you did good. We thank you."

Contributions to the Drue Smith Scholarship Fund can be made by writing checks to the Middle Tennessee Professional Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists, P.O. Box 22248, Nashville, Tenn., 37202.

Comments from this Web page were transcribed from a memorial service for Drue that was held in December 2001 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.