Homeless no more

He's been dealt some poor hands in an up-and-down life, but Richard Smith was lucky enough to land a subsidized apartment
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

He could be a character out of Damon Runyon with his wise-cracking and stories about the ponies, the girls and, well, life.

"You won't believe my name," he tells me. "The cops didn't the first time they stopped me on Hastings in the early '60s. I was going for a steak dinner at my favourite restaurant. I'd driven around the block three times before I found a parking spot. When I did there were two cops at my window. What's your name? Richard Smith, I told them. 'It can't be,' they said. 'We put him in jail a few hours ago.' So I told them it was Tom Jones and they let me go."

But his name really is Richard Smith. He's lived hard, played hard, worked hard, made money, lost money.

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