Smith, Doris Buchanan 1934-2002
SMITH, Doris Buchanan 1934-2002
OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born June 1, 1934, in Washington, DC; died August 8, 2002, in Atlanta, GA. Author. Smith was an award-winning author of novels and short stories for young adults. She attended South Georgia College from 1952 to 1953, but never entered the job market. Instead, she was a full-time mother who, over the course of many years, was also a foster mother to over 200 children. Beginning in the early 1970s, she transformed her understanding of children and adolescents into a series of realistic young adult novels that deal with such important issues as death, child abuse, divorce, juvenile delinquency, and eating disorders. She penned seventeen books during her career, including A Taste of Blackberries (1973), Kelly's Creek (1975), Last Was Lloyd (1981), Return to Bitter Creek (1986), and her last novel, Remember the Red-Shouldered Hawk (1994). Among her many honors were three Georgia Children's Book Author of the Year awards, which she won in 1974, 1975, and 1982, the 1973 Child Study Association Book of the Year Award for A Taste of Blackberries, and the 1986 Parents' Choice Literature Award for Return to Bitter Creek.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
books
St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, second edition, St. James (Detroit, MI), 1999.
periodicals
Washington Post, August 16, 2002, p. B6.