Snapshot: Bart Smith
Occupation: I’m a printer. I work for R.R. Donnelley; we’re all over the world. I’m a salesperson, so I work out of my office in Newtown.
Family: My wife is Barbara Kershaw. She’s an attorney in town. We have no children.
Pets: Not anymore. We used to have a Great Pyrenees dog and a couple of cats, but they’ve all departed. We’re leaning toward a dog sometime, though.
How long have you lived in Newtown? I’ve lived in Newtown my whole life, since 1959.
What do you like to do in your free time? I like to golf, and I run. I do like to read, and I’m a bit of an amateur landscape architect and gardener. Barbara and I travel quite a bit. I’m on the Board of Directors for the Newtown Forest Association. Those are my big “out of work” activities.
Do you have a favorite author? Some of my favorite authors are Dean Koontz and Robert Ludlum. I just finished a book written by a former Newtown resident, Dave Egee, called Wake Up Running. It’s an autobiography, and it was good.
Do you have a favorite travel destination? Our favorite place is Puerto Rico, the southeastern shore. We also like France quite a bit. We go to Puerto Rico five or six times a year, and to France a couple times a year. We’re pretty lucky that we get to travel some.
What is the best thing about Newtown? It feels like home! I love the landscape and the character, even though it’s not the rural character I have in my head from when I was young. One reason I’m with Newtown Forest Association, we’ve been able to preserve a lot of land — which is that rural character, and open space for people in Newtown to use.
Who has been the greatest influence in your life? Definitely my mom, Helen Smith. She raised five of us as a single parent. She taught us the difference between right and wrong, by example. Doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing to do, and she taught us to do that.
What was your favorite toy growing up? Probably my bicycle. It’s always exciting to get your next biggest bicycle, and growing up, you got around pretty good on a bicycle. It was my original ticket to travel.
Do you have a guilty pleasure? I try not to have too much guilt about my pleasures. I have the occasional cigar, so I’d say that’s my guilty pleasure.