Betty Smith (1896–1972,) born Elisabeth Lillian Wehner, was an American author. She is renowned for her bestselling book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943,) which is rated among the most significant 20th century American novels.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smith left school after the eighth grade and took a series of odd jobs. She got married and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when her husband started law school at the University of Michigan. She studied literature, journalism, and playwriting there, having been accepted as a special student because she lacked a high school degree.
Smith later studied at the Yale University Drama School 1930–34, earning scholarships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Dramatists Guild. She was divorced and moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA.)
Smith’s début novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943; film, 1945; stage, 1951,) is based loosely on her growing up poor. It sold 300,000 copies in six weeks and has sold millions more since. Her later semiautobiographical novels—Tomorrow Will Be Better (1948,) Maggie-Now (1958,) and Joy in the Morning (1963)—did not realize the success of her début.
Smith also published numerous plays, including Folk Stuff (1935,) Murder in the Snow (1938,) Lawyer Lincoln (1939,) and To Jenny with Love (1941.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Betty Smith
Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
—Betty Smith
Topics: Vision, Attitude
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