In the 1980s, when he owned a cooking school in Pittsburgh, Pa., he was a local celebrity. He got write-ups in newspapers and airtime on local TV news.

He later became head of food services for the Raleigh Civic Center, where he got to know top city officials. Joyce Kekas, a former member of the Raleigh City Council, speaks highly of him.

"He was good at what he did," Kekas said Tuesday.

Smith spent the last two years living alone in a cluttered North Raleigh apartment furnished with old couches held together with duct tape. He lost even that this week when he was unceremoniously evicted.

His mistake was getting old and sick.

Now 70, he is even-keeled when he tells you about his life. He can be downright jolly when regaling guests with anecdotes -- such as the time he attended a recital by opera diva Beverly Sills, and she left the stage to chat with a patron.

And he has his dog, Honey, to keep him company.

Smith was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2002. He had to leave his job with the Civic Center for health reasons, he said.

He was doing OK, living on Social Security and disability payments. But he hit a financial snag in August, he said, when he inadvertently paid a Progress Energy bill twice; as a result, four checks bounced and caused him $140 in bank fees.

Smith said Drucker & Falk, the apartment managers, at first agreed to take his rent checks late -- after his income checks arrived -- as long as he paid a late fee. But then they changed their minds and took him to court, Smith said.

"I would really prefer not to comment," said a woman who answered the phone at the apartment's offices.

A Small Claims Court judge ruled Feb. 4 in Drucker & Falk's favor. On Wednesday, a sheriff's deputy came into Smith's apartment and told him he had to vacate.

"They gave me five minutes to get my dog and leave," Smith said.

Smith approached Legal Aid of North Carolina to explore legal options. But the window has closed on an appeal of the Small Claims Court ruling, according to Kelly Clarke, a staff attorney for Legal Aid's Raleigh office.

Smith is living with a friend. He's not sure what he will do in the long term.

He never married and has no relatives in North Carolina.

Smith uses a cane and cannot drive. He tried to find part-time work but no one would hire him, he said.

"In almost every other culture, it almost seems like senior citizens are revered -- Japan, Germany, Italy," he said. "But here we want to forget about senior citizens. We want to sweep them under the carpet and forget about them."