Our guest today at Open Forum was author, journalist, and activist Chip Smith. Mr. Smith has lived in Murrells Inlet for many years and although he is retired, he continues to work tirelessly on new articles and books and on conservation projects to keep Murrells Inlet as clean and pristine as possible. Mr. Smith came bearing gifts: several copies of two books he published–one for adults (A Pocket Wild: Essays from a Carolina Marsh) and one for children of all ages (The Tide in the Cordgrass, 2025).

Mr. Smith graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a double major in Geology and Physical Anthropology. He explained to us that physical anthropology studies “the physical traces in our bodies of the evolution of the human species” using evidence such as bones and teeth. “But geology to me is the most fascinating,” he said, “because geologists can read the history of the earth.”

Mr. Smith’s active career was as a newspaperman and photojournalist. Today he is a science and nature writer for the local community. He continues to use his scientific training to inform his writing about nature and make science more understandable to the average person. “Scientists are not good at communicating their findings,” he said.

Mr. Smith shared some of his two books with us. One of his essays in A Pocket Wild is about Roosevelt Pickett, a Black man who worked for Oliver’s Lodge in Murrells Inlet ever since he was nine years old and who knew many things about the marsh. He was Mr. Smith’s neighbor and best friend. “Any person who ever met Roosevelt would never forget him,” he told us. He also read some excerpts from The Tide in the Cordgrass, an animal story set on the marsh in Murrells Inlet. There is a character called Clarence the Kingfisher, King of the Creek, and Mr. Smith was delighted to learn that the Kingfisher is our mascot.

We were delighted to meet Mr. Smith! He has since invited us to participate in the Spring Tide Clean-up of Murrells Inlet on Sunday, May 3. We look forward to that and to reading his books. Thank you, Chip Smith, for the talk and the books!