The Lone Star Iconoclast—Interview with W. Leon Smith

2008 March 12

Publisher of the Crawford, Texas weekly, The Lone Star Iconoclast, W. Leon Smith has his newspaper going since 2000. He was catapulted to notoriety in 2004 upon endorsing John Kerry for President, an act that forced him into the ranks of whistleblowers.

In an article dated 25 February 2008, “A Peoples’ History of Crawford”, The Iconoclast features the indy documentary “Crawford”, by David Modigliani, that premiered at the South by Southwest film festival. This must-see film will next show at the AFI Dallas film festival Friday, March 28, 7pm, Saturday, March 28, 10pm, and Friday, April 4, 1pm. See the website for tickets and locations.

A resident of Clifton, Mr. Smith’s family dates to the founding of the Lone Star Republic. He has served as mayor of his town for 5 years and has embodied a local-control, communitarian approach to governance, as illustrated by his novel and humane handling of animal control and a cooperative approach to water resources.

Full disclosure: Melinda is a columnist for The Lone Star Iconoclast.