It’s always hard to say what makes a place a “home.” Whether it’s the house where you grew up, the apartment that felt just right, or sometimes, the friendly bar where the folks accept their differences and take joy in just being together.
That last place might describe a 48-year-old icon of Tallahassee, and maybe particularly, Florida State University history — Poor Paul’s Pourhouse on the Tennessee Street strip — a lively bar where generations had their first drinks, met a lifetime of friends, and interacted with a man who somehow shepherded exuberant youth who often were “adulting” for the first time, and offered them fun within parameters.
Jim Smith was that man — the owner of Poor Paul’s since 1976, and the next-door Bullwinkle’s, from 1979 to the early 2000s. Smith died Aug. 25 at the age of 84. Three of his four sons talked about their father with the Democrat, a man they describe as “a big kid,” and how he played a role in so many young lives. Jim is survived by his four sons — David, Danny, Max, and Sam Smith—and his grandsons, Sam and Adam Smith.