The host of public TV’s The Frugal Gourmet from 1973 to 1997, who died sometime this past week, was one massive heap-O-contradictions.

He popularized world-fusion cooking, and devoted many episodes to travelogue footage, yet lived in Seattle and Tacoma all his life. (Even when he made his show under a contract to Chicago’s PBS affiliate, he commuted from here to there to tape it.)

He was a mellow, genial personality on camera, but could be a pompous brute in person.

He promoted fancy, exotic, and often expensive-to-make dishes on his show and in his cookbooks, but also enjoyed some of Seattle’s moderately priced restaurants (such as Mama’s Mexican Kitchen).

He was an ordained Methodist minister, working in “noncommercial” broadcasting, yet amassed quite a little capitalistic empire for himself.

And he spoke of family values, yet was dogged by allocations of boy-abuse and rape that, while settled out of court, led him to retire in disgrace. (This was five years before ministerial boy-abuse became a national scandal.)

Smith had a long-term heart condition, and in the past few years had used a motorized wheelchair (complete with a horn, which he used to belligerently honk at cars), but from all accounts remained active, participating in charity events and researching new cookbooks—despite having lost his show, his endorsement deals, his kitchenware line, and his reputation.