Author

Ron Smith

Ron Smith

Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian. He has written a variety of historical articles about 19th century lawyers for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and a biography of Thomas Ewing Jr., the state’s first chief justice, published by the University of Missouri Press. His Civil War novel, “The Wastage” was released in 2018.

OPINION
Ollie the dog

We welcomed an abandoned dog into our family. But dog dumping harms animals and people alike.

By: - November 17, 2023

In early October, I went outside the house to check on an outbuilding shed door. The Kansas wind had been howling and the door had blown open. Something that looked like a white sheet of plastic had blown up against the fence by our gate. I walked out to the gate and about 10 feet […]

OPINION
Columnist Ron Smith, circa 1970, working the board at AFVN-Saigon

From Marion to Vietnam, governments don’t like secrets exposed

By: - September 28, 2023

Kansas newspapers and media have been falling all over themselves to cover the efforts by the Marion police, assisted by a search warrant signed by a magistrate judge, to confiscate files and computers and other stuff of the Marion County Record.  This was a small town newspaper and most small towns have their own unique […]

OPINION
Erma Bombeck

Words from a legendary columnist offer political wisdom for Kansas, United States

By: - June 27, 2023

I hereby declare Erma Bombeck our National Humorist Emerita après la mort, clothed in an ermine-ringed Balenciaga and holding a gold-plated soup ladle as her bâton de maréchal. The award cannot be given, of course. Erma died in 1996, having “used up every bit of talent (God) gave me.” However, during her life, her writings […]

OPINION
President Warren G. Harding and other men gathered around a conference table

With Kansas election season winding down, consider the benefits of being a mugwump

By: - November 23, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION
Scales of Justice

Frontier Kansas lawyers plied their trade ‘on grounds of general intelligence’

By: - October 27, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION
U.S. Supreme Court members

An absence of malice: Free speech precedent could be up for grabs in shifting media landscape

By: - October 13, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION
The 2020 Kansas Legislature rebuffed an attempt in the House to revise a state law blocking anyone from receiving unemployment benefits for five years if accused of intentional or inadvertent fraud of the system. (Nick Krug for Kansas Reflector)

In electing lawmakers, Kansans might want to look past active-verb artists

By: - June 28, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION

Want to find real election fraud? Look at the history of Kansas, United States in 1800s

By: - May 8, 2022

Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war […]

OPINION

In supporting Ukrainians’ struggle, let’s not go crazy by canceling Russia’s rich culture

By: - March 17, 2022

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]

OPINION
U.S Sen. Birch Bayh. an Indiana Democrat, and Sen. Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican, worked together 40 years ago to author the Bayh-Dole Act, which created opportunity for a surge in product development inspired by federally financed research. This image shows the men in 1985. (Dole Photograph Collection, University of Kansas)

Remembering Kansas’ own Bob Dole: Will we see his like again?

By: - December 6, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]

OPINION
Cutting the sales tax on groceries would save Kansas families $500 or more a year on their grocery bills and improve food insecurity, according to the governor's office. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Removing sales tax on food creates a mess — why not add tax holidays instead?

By: - November 27, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil […]