Eric Smith

A regular feature for “A Fan’s Notes” in which I pull something—a quote, an article link, a great song—out of my notebook and share in a quick-hitting take rather than my normal deep dive.

Scroll below for past issues, which appear originally in my email newsletter. You can navigate to the bottom of this page of click here to subscribe.

Today’s edition of Notebook uncovers the backstory of this new feature, which I didn’t fully explain in my previous email.

When I was a sports reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, several editors and colleagues, including my friends Matt Nevala and Van Williams, introduced me to an easy story idea commonplace at most daily newspapers: the so-called Reporter’s Notebook. This format is named for the literal “reporter’s notebook” (see photo) that journalists use to take notes in the field.

The general idea for this article is that a reporter empties their notebook of leftover quotes, facts, tidbits, and stats that didn’t make it into a story for some reason or another. Perhaps there wasn’t room for additional context. Or a quote didn’t quite fit the story’s thesis. Or deadline arrived and you had no time to type in one more supporting stat because a copy editor was yelling at you to file the final version.

Those extra items sitting in your notebook might not warrant a standalone article, but they were important enough to jot down. And, when stitched together as nuggets relevant to your beat, they provided an informative and breezy read. All you had to do was organize your notes, add an intro, and voila, you had another byline to your credit.

Watch this space for future Notebook items that may not become full-fledged blogs but which I still find interesting and noteworthy—much like today’s fun fact about newspaper reporting.

I’m introducing a new feature for my occasional newsletter called “Notebook,” a brief look at things I’m a fan of that didn’t make it into a blog (or haven’t yet) but are worth mentioning.

“Notebook” will include links to articles I find fascinating, songs I’m listening to, shows I recommend, extra info from recent posts, and more.

The first installment is a tribute to my uncle, Rick Smith, who died last month in Tucson. Here is his obituary. To the left is the photo that ran with his obit from his National Park Service days, and a picture of him teaching me to ski at Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, N.M., in 1992.

Every time I step into my skis to make turns, I thank him for passing a love of skiing down to me. He was simply a great man, and I miss him.

RIP Uncle Rick, 1938-2025

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