Age, Biography and Wiki

Doris Buchanan Smith was born on 1 June, 1934 in Washington, D.C., is an American novelist (1934–2002). Discover Doris Buchanan Smith's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is she in this year and how she spends money? Also learn how she earned most of networth at the age of 68 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Novelist
Age 68 years old
Zodiac Sign Gemini
Born 1 June 1934
Birthday 1 June
Birthplace Washington, D.C.
Date of death 8 August, 2002
Died Place Jacksonville, Florida
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 1 June. She is a member of famous novelist with the age 68 years old group.

Doris Buchanan Smith Height, Weight & Measurements

At 68 years old, Doris Buchanan Smith height not available right now. We will update Doris Buchanan Smith's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Who Is Doris Buchanan Smith's Husband?

Her husband is R. Carroll Smith (1954–1977; divorced; 5 children including one adopted and many foster children) Dr. William J. "Bill" Curtis (1990–1997; his death)

Family
Parents Not Available
Husband R. Carroll Smith (1954–1977; divorced; 5 children including one adopted and many foster children) Dr. William J. "Bill" Curtis (1990–1997; his death)
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Doris Buchanan Smith Net Worth

Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Doris Buchanan Smith worth at the age of 68 years old? Doris Buchanan Smith’s income source is mostly from being a successful novelist. She is from United States. We have estimated Doris Buchanan Smith's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income novelist

Doris Buchanan Smith Social Network

Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Wikipedia
Imdb

Timeline

1934

Doris Buchanan Smith (June 1, 1934 – August 8, 2002) was an American author of award-winning Children's books, including A Taste of Blackberries (HarperCollins, 1973).

Doris Jean Buchanan was born June 1, 1934, in Washington, D.C., to parents Charles A. and Flora R. Buchanan.

At age two she began memorizing nursery rhymes her mother read to her and then inventing stories of her own.

At nine, her family moved from the nation's capital, to Atlanta, Georgia.

Noticing that she had a flair for storytelling, a sixth-grade teacher, Miss Pruitt (to whom A Taste of Blackberries would later be dedicated), asked Doris if she planned on becoming a writer one day.

The suggestion resonated and a "closet" writer was born.

The next year her parents divorced, leaving Doris and her brothers Bob and Jim to be reared by their mother.

While attending South Georgia College, Douglas, Georgia, Doris met R. Carroll Smith.

1954

Neither of them completed their courses, and in December 1954 they were married.

The Smiths settled in Brunswick, Georgia, where they raised four children of their own and cared for dozens of foster children, including one whom they reared from age 12 to adulthood.

After the author's youngest child entered public school, Smith began to focus on her writing, joining a writers group and attending writers conferences while honing her craft.

1970

In the early 1970s, along with authors such as Katherine Paterson and Judy Blume, Smith established "a solid reputation for accessible fiction with serious themes."

1973

Doris Buchanan Smith's, A Taste of Blackberries (HarperCollins, 1973), earned critical acclaim as well as comparisons with Charlotte's Web (HarperCollins, 1952).

A Taste of Blackberries "deals honestly and emphatically with the range of emotions," wrote Cynthia Westway in The Atlanta Journal, 1973, "... the story is not, however an elegy; but a celebration of the continuity of the life-death cycle."

Smith's first completed novel was never published, but her second, A Taste of Blackberries, became a children's classic, which has remained in print since 1973.

1975

David Rees, in The Times Literary Supplement, 1975, declared, "It will be difficult to find a children's book this autumn by a new author as good as Doris Buchanan Smith's A Taste of Blackberries."

1977

Smith's marriage ended in divorce in 1977, and she remained single until meeting her second husband, Dr. William J. "Bill" Curtis, an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, while at a writer's conference in Hawaii.

1980

Smith also wrote Voyages, 1980, The First Hard Times, 1983 and The Pennywhistle Tree, 1991, all named ALA Notable Children's Books by the American Library Association.

1981

Last Was Lloyd, 1981, was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

1986

Return to Bitter Creek, 1986, received the Parents' Choice Award, and was named a School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.

1990

They were married from 1990 until Curtis' death in 1997 from ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

1994

Smith's last published work was Remember the Red Shouldered Hawk, in 1994.

2002

In a review for the School Library Journal (2002), Ann Welton wrote that Smith's book is "rightfully viewed, along with Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia, 1977, as one of the seminal children's books on the subject of death."

Doris Buchanan Smith succumbed to cancer in August, 2002.

Of her 17 books, only A Taste of Blackberries remains in print.

When Publishers Weekly asked children's editors to name a book they wish they had published, Deborah Brodie, former Executive Editor of Roaring Brook Press, named A Taste of Blackberries, remembering its impact; "Near the end of the book, when Jamie's mother accepts the basket of blackberries his friend has picked, she says, 'I'll bake a pie. And you be sure to come slam the door for me now and then.' The slam of that door reverberates still."

2006

"It blazed the way for the many other grief books that quickly followed, but few have approached the place of honor this one holds," wrote Jim Trelease in The Read-Aloud Handbook (Penguin, Sixth Edition, 2006).

A Taste of Blackberries won the Josette Frank Award, the Georgia Children's Book Award, and the Best Children's Book Prize of a translated work in the Netherlands (Zilveren Griffel).

It is an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Newbery Medal finalist, and has been translated into Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish and Japanese.