R.I.P., Mary Ellen Smith: Queen of the club listings

Even though her name didn't widely register around the music community she served, Mary Ellen Smith was responsible for getting more local bands' names in print than anyone else around.

A longtime club/events listings editor at the Twin Cities Reader and later City Pages and the Star Tribune, Smith died at home in Minneapolis on Tuesday night just two weeks after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. She was 60. In the pre-internet era -- and even well afterward (clubs who didn't update their sites often heard from her) -- Smith withstood the tedious work of tracking down club owners, concert promoters and other music staffers to assemble the lists that determined where many local music fans wound up on any given night. She worked at the now-defunct Reader for 17 years.

"In those days, the music calendar was everything," said veteran promoter Sue McLean, who called Smith a "fixture" behind-the-scenes. "She loved the music and loved being such a big part of keeping all the events straight."

New York Times columnist and author David Carr, who worked with Smith at the Reader in the 1980s and early '90s, said her "quiet power" served the arts community well. "In every place of business, there's always someone who knows the score and knows exactly what's up, and that was always her," Carr recalled. Her know-how extended beyond newsrooms, too: Carr recalled her getting him out of jail once. "She was that kind of efficient person, but also a lot of fun."

Smith's partner for 33 years, Michael McElrath, described Smith's death as "about as good a way to go as you can ask for." Also a musician, McElrath said he played her many songs and "every CD we own" in her final days. "Her suffering was mercifully swift, but she had a big enough window of time where the people she loved could come and see her and giver her this great outpouring of support," he said.

The couple each had children and grandchildren from prior relationships, including a granddaughter currently living with them while she attends the University of Minnesota. While at home, McElrath said Smith went through all her personal photos prior to her death and filed them under who gets what photos. "That's how thoughtful and smart she was," he said.

Smith will be memorialized a week from Friday, July 15, at the Parkway Theater (4814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls.). Visitation will be at noon and service at 1 p.m. A fund to help pay for arrangements has been created in Smith's name at the Star Tribune Credit Union.