Ross Smith

I wish I could go to Ross's funeral so badly, but with this migraine barely feeling gone I don't think I can drive up to Winston without becoming physically incapacitated by headaches again. Because I can't I'll be paying my condolences best I can here, and in my prayers, the best I can, until I can in person one day.

Ross with candidate-now-President Obama, I always read and bookmarked his commentary, he was such an insightful guy: After Ross and my partner taught me the basics of college policy debate, I quickly took to kritik-style debating. Inspired by Ross's enthusiasm for debate, I read Hardt & Negri's Empire, Baudrillard, Foucault, Said's 'Orientalism', and cut counter-K cards against Orientalism - and no matter how much I worked or re-read any of those files, I was constantly in awe of how much Ross could teach me about literally anything. The few times I did do very well in debate, like one of my colleagues stated via quoting Newton, I did it by "standing on the shoulders of (a) giant." Ross was that intellectual giant in debate.

I'll never forget how apathetic I became after getting a little too into kritik-literature and impressing it upon my own personal life outside of debate too rigorously, and my faith in participatory (civic) activism dissipated. I distinctly remember being persuaded by the "changing our system of superficially democratic choice by refusing to endorse it by refusing to vote" theory - however, within moments, in casual conversation with Ross this theory came up and he took the wheels off of that argument faster than the most expert mechanic. Ross Smith's mind was his tool and his disposition was what made him unique: I don't think there ever was a person who could at the same time intimidate you and make you feel welcome at the same time - with a booming voice and unmatched enthusiasm, Ross was always there to help anybody he was in a position to.

And he could teach anyone!