My amazing father Leo passed away on 28th November 2021 & he was laid to rest on the 15th December. I was always going to write about him, but today would have been his 82nd Birthday so today seems the most fitting. For as long as I can remember I have shared a birthday celebration with him, because my birthday is just seven days later, but this year he will be missing from the blowing out of the candles, & we all miss him indescribably. Some beautiful things were said about him in the eulogies from all of us, but I feel he would approve of me writing about him on his birthday, as he liked to tell me about his achievements & there were many.

If anybody wanted a lesson on self-belief, then Leo Smith would be the man for the job. He once had a teacher at school who said, “Smith you are a complete failure, you will never achieve anything in your life…” I am not sure if that remark was the catalyst for how he lived his life or it was Dad’s tough childhood (as they did not have much), but whatever it was, he was driven. Incidentally he met this teacher later in life and filled him in on what he had managed to achieve. 

Dad was born on the 20^th January 1940 in Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport and was brought up at 1a Mount Pleasant, Hazel Grove. He had three younger siblings, Paul, Eileen and Vincent. His Dad, Richard, was from Lancashire & his Mum, Annie, was Irish. When Dad was aged five, he was admitted to an open-air school in the Wirral, he slept in a dormitory with the windows wide open, his dad had TB, so to ensure that he didn’t develop TB, he was sent away from his family, which must have been very heart-breaking for such a little boy and Annie had to travel 120 miles (round trip) to visit him. The house where they lived had no bathroom or inside toilet and was heated by coal fire downstairs.

Dad originally trained as an engineer, in 1957 he joined a marine engineering company and worked in the drawing office as a trainee draughtsman, but after a couple of years he decided engineering was not for him. He joined the firm Buckley and Bland in Stockport who were a letter press Printer, Dad was taken on as an apprentice lithographic artist, under the wing of Les Bickerton who became one of his lifelong friends. At Buckley & Bland he had found his calling & print would be his work and passion until 2001. In 1959 he met my mother Maureen at a Stockport Town Hall Dance & it was love at first sight, they were married in 1961 & celebrated their Diamond Wedding on October 7th 2021.

Growing up with Dad, my life was always interesting, exciting & sometimes chaotic. In my early life he was away a lot with frequent trips abroad and when he wasn’t travelling, he was always at his printing factory. His first business was Essex Colour & later he started The White Dove Press. His second premises was in Aviation Way Southend-on-Sea, he built this factory from scratch… it looked nothing like a factory & more like a grand Italian Villa. He set up Colourlink on the Grays Inn Road & later in Old Street, London. He went from employing 50 people in the early days to 100’s of people, which I know he was very proud of & we are too. Dad liked a ‘bit of a do’ over his work life, he held some big parties, a couple that I remember…one was at Duxford Airfield, where we all had to dress up in WW2 outfits & the other was a Victorian evening at the opening of his factory in Aviation Way, where the late great Spike Milligan cut the ribbon. Dad was never phased by reaching out to celebrities if he wanted them to open an event, he met Melvyn Bragg, Alexis Sayle & Frank Carson who he later became friends with.   

 

Dad was always well turned out, mostly suited & booted & had was never seen without his signature bow tie, he always had a hanky in his top pocket. He had braces in different colours & patterns, a vast tie collection, some amazing suits including a suit by someone called Tommy Nutter (that’s pretty apt for Dad). Some amazing, patterned shirts from florals to Hawaiian print. He didn’t just buy from the standard stores, he would buy designer, vintage and from independent shops. He loved cashmere jumpers, pattered scarves, hats…fedoras, straw hats, tweed caps and more. Even his sock collection is patterned. His wardrobe was colourful & interesting, just like him. He would also buy us things to wear, mainly accessories, but he was always spot on. He once bought my sister a pair of pink suede ankle boots from Italy, those boots made all her friends envious and me too. He was interested in fashion & textiles, as well as art, graphic design, typography, photography & illustration. When he owned an office in London he would help as many young creatives as possible, either giving them a job or offering free studio space so they could start their business. Dad collected friends, he had friends who were work colleagues’ designers, clients, Italian priests, painters, chefs, old friends, neighbours & he had friends of all ages, which I think kept him young at heart.

In the early 2000’s his businesses were no longer under his control. He had a fallow year & was obviously upset and grieving the loss of his companies. But then in true Dad style, he decided he was going to start an Italian cooking school. His first idea was to take people on holiday to a town in Italy called Bagni De Luca, the cooking would be taught buy a couple of chefs that he knew. I went on one of the first trips with my cousin, we had such a laugh with experiences like chanting meditation ( we sniggered all the way through),  getting stuck in the hire car when Dad had misjudged the size of the tiny road, we also visited an Italian Nonna in her house in the hills (I’m still not quite sure who she was). After a few of these trips Dad decided to set up his business from a barn next to our house, the kitchen for the cooking school was built in a matter of weeks, the name of this cooking school was Taste-Italia. Dad employed a chef called Mario, but they also had visiting chefs. In the back garden they had two polytunnels where they grew their own veg for the school & a pizza oven. Mum and Dad we’re probably a little old to be taking this on, but I don’t think Mum had much choice. They ran the school for a full 10 years with many happy customers writing to say what a fantastic time they had. Dad also did lots for charity, he ran cooking classes for schools and for the Women’s Refuge, he also put on events to raise money for Little Havens Hospice, like the Opera in the garden, I remember being massively embarrassed at the huge banner at Billericay station that was advertising it, every time the train pulled in. We have also had tons of family parties in the Taste Italia barn. I am so proud that he had the get up and go to start this business with all that he had been through & proud of Mum who worked so hard so he could realise his dream, she was the cog to his wheel. 

Dad opened up the world for me, he took me to some amazing places. He had an office in New York for a while and every time I hear an Englishman in New York I think of him. Me, my brother and sister-in-law went to help with one of his printing trade fairs, I was probably 19, I don’t think you could have three more excited people in our own suite in NYC. He took me again when I was late twenties, he hired a limo for me & my friend & took me to see Madame Butterfly and let my friend crash in my hotel room. I also did a road trip with him & Mum from San Francisco to LA, it was so much fun. We stayed on Nob Hill, Mum had her hair blow dried by a man in drag, we went to a place called the Starlight Club, we hadn’t eaten and there was no food, so we just drank cocktails, the artist performing was from the band Santana, I got up, shook my thing, at one point there was a huge circle with me in the middle, Dad & Mum thought it was hilarious. When the taxi arrived Mum & I collapsed on the floor between the pavement and the road (the sign of a good night) We travelled down route 101 to Los Angeles & stopped off on the way in a place called King Pin City which was full of Cowboys, where we ate refried beans. When we got to Los Angeles Dad took us to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Beach, Chateau Marmont & The Beverly Hills Hotel. What a fabulous trip, that would not have happened without Dad’s adventurous spirit.  

 

When I told Stephen my husband, that Dad had gone, Stephen’s words were “he won at life”. Dad never let anything get in the way of him living life to the full & achieving his vision, however mad it was. He was challenging at times, but ‘sometimes’ he would back down. In 2018 he wrote a book about his life, I’m so pleased he did, because when I am really missing him, I can read his words and feel like he is talking to me. If you have got this far, one legacy that he has left for his children, his grandchildren and lots of people that crossed his path, is his unwavering self-belief, the idea that anything is possible and to enjoy your life and live it to the full, which is exactly what he did.