Last Word: Sonya Smith

In July 2005, we started “The Last Word,” a column in which locals answer questions about themselves. It was patterned after Vanity Fair’s The Proust Questionnaire – which had its origins in a parlor game popularized by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that an individual reveals his or her true nature in answering these questions.

Sonya Smith

Inweekly, 9/22/2005

After huddling around our radios and TVs during Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Katrina, we feel like we know “The Storm Lady.” As Escambia County’s public information officer, it falls on Sonya Smith to get out emergency information during storms. Coming off major surgery right before Ivan struck Sept. 16, 2004, Smith worked 27 days in a row for Escambia’s Emergency Operations Center. On the anniversary of Ivan, Smith took time to talk about Shania Twain, a short-lived dream to become the next Barbara Walters and becoming an author.

What is your greatest fear?
Skydiving. Bungee jumping. Another disturbance out there in the Gulf.

What is the trait you most deplore?
Someone who just can’t tell the truth.

Which living person do you most admire?
Women of faith and integrity – Joyce Meyers and Paula White.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Day at the spa at The Hotel Hershey.

What is your favorite journey?
Bahamas.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
The whole “me first” syndrome.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
You know what I mean. It’s OK, we’ll get it done.

When and where are you most comfortable?
At home in front of the TV.

Which talent would you most like to have?
To sing like Shania Twain.

What is your current state of mind?
It’s gone. Five storms have sent it over the edge.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
We all drive each other nuts but I wouldn’t change anything about them.

What is your dream job?
Writing a book one day on overcoming adversity.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I’m giving a talk in October at the Utah Public Information Officer Association’s annual conference on crisis communications, “Communicating in Paradise: Sun, Sand and Hurricanes.” I’m honored that some FEMA PIOs watched me on the job a couple of weeks during Ivan and recommended me.

What do you consider your greatest failure?
I wanted a TV career like Barbara Walters. But after 2 1?2 years in the TV world for a CBS affiliate in Fort Pierce, I realized TV wasn’t for me.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Divorce.

What is your most striking characteristic?
The sound of my voice. People will hear it and say, “You’re that storm lady,” or “hurricane lady” or “EOC lady.”

What is the quality you most like in other people?
Truthfulness, sincerity, integrity.

What have you learned in life?
Everything is a new adventure.

What do you most value in friends?
They’re always there.

How would you like to die?
Suddenly. I don’t want it to drag out. I don’t like pain that much.

What is your motto?
I will survive.