Ernie Smith was born in St. Paul, MN but arrived in San Francisco as an infant. He graduated from Lowell High School and the University of California, making a name for himself as a champion swimmer and water polo player. He reportedly became America’s first water skier as part of a 1912 promotional campaign in Alameda for an outboard motor manufacturer.
Smith served in the US Amy as an infantry captain during World War I. After the war, he returned to San Francisco, where he did some sportswriting.
Smith joined KYA in 1927 and would broadcast a wide variety of sporting events from San Francisco, including baseball, football, ice hockey, wrestling, boxing, crew races, track meets and even parades. His enthusiastic, detailed descriptions of sporting events won him a loyal following among radio listeners.
Smith was one of the early practitioners of the art of the radio re-creation, requiring him to receive brief messages about the progress of a sports event and weave them into a believable account for his listening audience.
After his broadcasting years, Smith served in a number of civic roles, including the Sonoma Valley school board and the State Water Quality Control Board. He also contributed sports reports to the San Francisco Examiner for many years.
Ernie Smith died in 1974 at age 80.