Charlie Smith was born in Blind River, Ontario in 1948. His mother Iona Hamilton of Spanish, Ontario wrote poetry, as did her father Charlie Hamilton, also of Spanish. Charlie's father, Charles T. Smith was from Illinois, and Charlie was 'shook round this continent / Like a pebble in a can,' attending public school in Silver Water, Ont., Rockford, Ill., Elizabeth Bay, Ont., Grand Detour, Ill., Spanish, Ont., Grand Detour, Ill. (again), and Evansville, Ont. He went to High School in Orangeville, Ont., and Gore Bay, Ont., where he graduated with his grade 12 diploma. He married his wife Rhonda Lane just out of high school, and spent 10 years in the INCO mines in Sudbury. He and Rhonda then bought their home--christened Earthfast--n the Birch Lake Road, northeast of Massey, Ont., where Charlie fulfilled his dream of being "A father, a farmer, a good rifle shot." They have three children, Rebecca, Chuck, and Brandon, and three grandchildren, Maeve, Angus and Nora.