Summary
Native Nevadan John L. Smith has spent more than four decades writing about the characters and conundrums that make the state unique. The author of many books, his titles for the University of Nevada Press include Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War over the West’s Public Lands; The Westside Slugger: Joe Neal’s Lifelong Fight for Social Justice, and as a co-author My Life in Politics: The Memoirs of Senator Richard H. Bryan. His work is featured in both volumes of the acclaimed collections of American columnists, Deadline Artists.
Among his writing honors are the Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Award, Northwestern’s Foley-Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, ethics awards from the University of Oregon and National Society of Professional Journalists, and honors from the Best of the West and Nevada Press Association. He is a member of the press association’s Hall of Fame, and has received the Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. He’s also appeared on numerous documentaries, including The American Experience: Las Vegas – an Unconventional History, and Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.
Married to fellow Nevada Writers Hall of Fame member Sally Denton, John has a daughter, three stepsons, a grandson, and three dogs. He lives in Reno, where he writes an award-winning column for The Nevada Independent, freelances widely, and is working on his next book.