Lee Smith - 1944
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Read another essay on Lee Smith written by North Carolina student
Brandon P.
I. Upbringing, Professional Life, and Education Ever since Lee Smith was a little girl, she wanted to
become a writer. Lee Smith was born in Grundy, Virginia in 1944, a small coal-mining town in the Appalachian Mountains in Southwestern
Virginia. Gig, Smith's mother was a teacher in Grundy and her father Ernest owned and operated a dime store. When Smith was nine years old, she wrote her first novel. She
used to sell stories that she wrote to her neighbors. Smith got her inspiration for her stories from a peephole in the top of her father's store. She would watch and listen to the
customers gossip about daily events. Then she would write about what she had heard. Lee Smith attended Hollins College in Roanoke. As a college student, Smith was a go-go
dancer in a local all girl band called the "Virginia Woolfs". During her senior year at Hollins, she was awarded a fellowship for a novel she wrote. After graduation from
Hollins College, she married. Her husband was a poet and a teacher. During this time, Smith wrote reviews for local papers. In 1971, she published her second novel, Something In the Wind.
In 1973, Smith finished her third novel, Fancy Strut, which was highly praised by the critics. In 1978 and 1980, Smith won the O. Henry Award for short stories.
Smith's marriage failed in 1981 and, shortly after, she published a collection for her short stories, Cakewalk. Around this time, she accepted a teaching position at North Carolina
State University. In 1983, she published her fifth novel, Oral History. This novel became one of the Book-of-the-Month features, which opened Lee up to a broader audience.
Lee Smith now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is married to Hal Crowther and they have two cats and dogs to keep them company. II. List of Works
The Last Day the Dog Bushes Bloomed (1968) III. Literary Works Summarized Oral History: Black Mountain Breakdown: Saving Grace: The Christmas Letter: IV. Awards A recent winner of Academy Award in Literature V. Sources
Fancy Strut (1973)
Black Mountain Breakdown (1981)
Cakewalk (1981)
Oral History (1983)
Family Linen (1985)
Fair and Tender Ladies (1988)
Me and My Baby View the Eclipse (1990)
The Devil's Dream (1992)
Saving Grace (1995)
The Christmas Letter (1996)
News of the Spirit (1996)
This novel focuses on the Cantrell Family and takes place over a span of 100 years. The Cantrell's are mountain people and the narrator tells the oral history of the family.
This novel is about a small coal-mining town similar to Smith's hometown. The main character is a girl named Crystal. The novel takes Crystal from age twelve to age
thirty-two. It is all about her growing up and becoming a woman.
This novel is about the character Florida Grace Shepard. Florida's father is an extreme
traveling minister. He uses snakes to show his faith. Her father's passion scares Florida away from her faith.
The novella is about the main character, Birdie Puckett. She writes a letter describing life on a North Carolina farm to her mother and sister. Parts two and three are about Birdie's
daughter and granddaughter writing letters. These letters link the three generations.
Lila Wallace/ Reader's Digest Award, 1995-1997
Robert Penn Warren Prize for Fiction, 1991
Lyndhurst Grant, 1990-1992
Weatherford Award for Appalachian Literature, 1988
North Carolina Award for Fiction, 1984
Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Oral History, 1983 and Fair and Tender Ladies, 1989
Henry Awards, 1979 and 1981
This essay was submitted by a student of Rita Achenbach, a teacher at Fuquay-Varina High School in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.