Ed Smith has taught in schools all over Newfoundland, finally settling in Springdale, where he and his wife, Marion, still live. He has been a high school principal, an assistant superintendent of education, and principal of a college campus in Springdale. Ed retired in 1996, just over two years before a car accident left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. He began writing a humour column for the local newspaper in 1980. Other papers soon began running the column, so that today “The View from Here” appears in six papers and magazines. He has been nominated for the Stephen Leacock Award for humour and has written for the Toronto Star and Reader’s Digest. In 2001 Ed prepared a series of short radio clips on life with quadriplegia, which he wrote and presented on CBC radio. These earned him The Canadian Nurses’ Association award for excellence in broadcasting and an international Gabriel award for writing that “upholds and uplifts the human spirit.” Ed has been recognized by the Atlantic Community Newspapers Association for “hilarious” material. Five collections of his columns have also been published.