{{short description|American novelist (1927–2014)}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. --> | name = Patrick Davis Smith | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Patrick D. Smith.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|10|08}} | birth_place = [[D'Lo, Mississippi]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|01|26|1927|10|08}} | death_place = [[Merritt Island, Florida]] | resting_place = | occupation = Public relations, author | language = English | education = | alma_mater = [[University of Mississippi]] | period = | genre = [[Historical fiction]] | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''A Land Remembered'' | spouse = Iris Doty | partner = | children = Patrick Smith, Jr.,<br /> Jane Smith | relatives = | awards = [[Order of the South]] | signature = | signature_alt = | module = | website = {{URL|patricksmithonline.com}} | portaldisp = }} '''Patrick Davis Smith'''<ref name=SmithDavis>{{cite web|url=http://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/writers/patrick-smith.html|author=Tasha Hines|title=Patrick D. Smith: Mississippi Writers & Musicians|website=mswritersandmusicians.com|publisher=Mississippi Writers Project|access-date=2015-09-14}}</ref> (October 8, 1927 – January 26, 2014) was an American author. His work was nominated seven times for the [[Pulitzer Prize]] and five times for the [[Nobel Prize for Literature]]. He was inducted into the [[Florida Artists Hall of Fame]] in 1999.<ref name=HallFame>{{cite web|url=https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-artists-hall-of-fame/patrick-d-smith/|title=Patrick D. Smith, Author|website=dos.myflorida.com|publisher=[[Florida Department of State]], Division of Cultural Affairs|access-date=2015-09-14}}</ref>
==Biography== Born in [[D'Lo, Mississippi]], Smith graduated from the [[University of Mississippi]] in 1947. On August 1, 1948, he married Iris Doty, with whom he remained until his death. He continued his studies until 1959, when he completed his [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] Smith worked in public affairs at Hinds Junior College until 1962 and at the [[University of Mississippi]] until 1966, when he moved to Florida and took the position of Director of Public Relations at [[Brevard Community College]], which became Eastern Florida State College in August 2013.
Smith wrote his first novel, ''The River is Home'', when he was 25. It is the story of the Skeeters, a poor family of "river rats" in Mississippi. His next novel was ''Forever Island'', the story of an old [[Seminole]] struggling against the development of the land where he has lived his whole life. That was followed by ''Allapattah'', another novel of the Seminole culture. Smith's next book, ''Angel City'', is the story of a poor family's struggles after being ensnared in a migrant camp. In 1980, it was made into a [[CBS]] movie of the week, starring [[Ralph Waite]] and [[Jennifer Jason Leigh]].<ref name=Film>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/2359/Angel-City/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304193845/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/2359/Angel-City/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-03-04|author=Hal Erickson|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Angel City (1980)|author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|date=2014|access-date=2015-09-14}}</ref>
Smith's best-known work is ''[[A Land Remembered]]'',<ref name=Obit/> a multi-generational novel of a family's struggles from pioneers to wealthy tycoons.
He died in [[Merritt Island, Florida|Merritt Island]], Florida, at age 86.<ref name=Obit>{{cite news |last=Harbaugh |first=Pam |date=January 26, 2014 |title=Celebrated Merritt Island novelist Patrick Smith dies |url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20140126/NEWS01/140126006/Celebrated-Merritt-Island-novelist-Patrick-Smith-dies |newspaper=[[Florida Today]] |access-date=2015-09-14 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130224456/http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20140126/NEWS01/140126006/Celebrated-Merritt-Island-novelist-Patrick-Smith-dies |archive-date=January 30, 2014 }}</ref>
==Bibliography== Forever Island (1973)<br /> Angel City: A Novel (1978)<br /> Allapattah (1979)<br /> ''[[A Land Remembered]]'' (1984)<br /> The River is Home (1989)<br /> The Beginning: A Novel (1998)<br /> The Last Ride (2000)<br /> In Search of the Russian Bear: An American Writer's Odyssey in the Former Soviet Union (2001)<br /> The Seas That Mourn (2003)<br /> A White Deer and Other Stories (2007)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://patricksmithonline.com Official website] * [http://alandremembered.com] * [http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/smith_patrick_d/ Profile] at olemiss.edu
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Patrick D.}} [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:University of Mississippi alumni]] [[Category:Novelists from Florida]] [[Category:Novelists from Mississippi]] [[Category:People from Simpson County, Mississippi]] [[Category:American male novelists]] [[Category:Eastern Florida State College people]] [[Category:People from Merritt Island, Florida]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]]