Roger Smith has died

[CatWoman]

UPDATE 1-Former GM CEO Roger Smith dead at 82

DETROIT, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Former General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Roger Smith, who oversaw a sweeping reorganization at the largest U.S. automaker but was sharply criticized in the Michael Moore film "Roger & Me," has died after a brief illness. He was 82.

He died on Thursday in suburban Detroit, GM said on Friday, giving no more details.

Smith was appointed chairman and CEO in January 1981 and led GM until July 1990. Despite Smith's efforts at technological advancement and more efficiency among brands, GM's share of the U.S. market fell from 46 percent to 35 percent in that period.

Smith is also known for being the target of "Roger & Me," which documented the effects of GM's production cutbacks on Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan, and started the documentary filmmaker's career as a populist gadfly.

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN3032003820071130

[ORDagnabbit]

1. wow has micheal moore gained alot of weight.....n/t

[CatWoman]

4. .....

..................and???????

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

14. I'm new around here......I looooove the little cat thingies.

[Poiuyt]

17. Catwoman is the best!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Let's see how you look in twenty years.

[blondeatlast]

8. Wow. What a stellarly stupid post. nt

[uppityperson]

16. Yup, aged a bit also. Still love him.

[Spinzonner]

2. Here I was about to say

poor Ann-Margaret

[Bobbieo]

13. Spin, that is exactly what I was thinking! Poor Ann Margaret

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Smith's casket should follow the GM plants to Mexico.

[Canuckistanian]

11. Smith DOES owe a debt to Mexicans

After all, it's THEIR labor that he got rich off of.

There should be a memorial or something in Tijuana.

[Selatius]

5. They should've pushed more heavily into offering more fuel-efficient models.

In the 1980s, cars got smaller and more fuel efficient than cars in the 1970s, a result of the oil shocks of the '70s. Today, some of the models made in the late 1980s are getting better mileage than bigger, newer cars being made today. For some, I think that may be seen as a step backward.

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Check out Mike's home page:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/


Roger Smith
July 12, 1925 - November 29, 2007

The family asks that donations be made to the Roger B. Smith Memorial Fund to Benefit the Fight Against Cancer: William Beaumont Hospital, c/o of the Beaumont Fund, P.O. Box 5802, Troy, MI 48007-9620

Mike's a classy guy - infinitely more than his protractors,that's for sure.:hi:

[blondeatlast]

9. That IS classy, very classy. Good for Moore. nt

[rockymountaindem]

10. Yep, classy

That's what I was gonna say even before I saw the rest of your post.

[Canuckistanian]

12. To be fair, though

Roger Smith was never portrayed as the ultimate cause of misery for Flint, MI, just a participant in it.

Just as MM never went after Henry Kaiser for the HMO/Insurance system we know and loathe.

MM rails against the systems that put these people in power, NOT the people themselves.

Moore blames politicians much more directly for the state that society is in right now.

[liberaltrucker]

15. Good riddance.

If Eternal Justice exists, the motherfucker is roasting
somewhere among Hitler, Nixon, Kenny-boy, Falwell, ad nauseum.

:party: