Terrence L. Smith Dies; Mystery Writer Was 46
Published: December 9, 1988 in the New York Times
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 8— Terrence Lore Smith, an author of mystery novels, died Wednesday in a traffic accident. He was 46 years old and lived in Woodland Park, Colo.
Mr. Smith's best-known work, ''The Thief Who Came to Dinner,'' was completed in 1969 and was published by Doubleday and Pocket Books in 1971. It became a best seller and in 1973 it was made into a movie starring Ryan O'Neal.
He also wrote ''The Looking Glass Murders,'' ''Murder Behind Closed Doors,'' ''Yours Truly, From Hell,'' ''The Money War,'' ''The Devil and Webster Daniels,'' ''Grown-Ups and Lovers'' and ''Who Killed the Pie Man?''
Mr. Smith was born Oct. 27, 1942, in Freeport, Ill. He worked as a courier for the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado. He was killed when he lost control of a library district van on an icy road.
He is survived by his wife, Harriet; four daughters; his mother, Mary, of Bloomington, Ill., and a sister.
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The following was written by classmates for our 50th Reunion Booklet. Led by a dedicated team of local classmates, the project was titled:
"BHS CLASS OF '60 FOOTPRINTS"
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Terry was a close friend of mine right up to the time of his death on December 7, 1988. Pearl Harbor Day is an easy date to remember, at least for me. He was killed while driving a bookmobile to branch libraries for the Colorado Springs Library system.
Although tragic, to those closest to him his death seemed appropriate in this way: Throughout his adult life, he loved books. His love of books--and his dedication to the craft of writing--led him to write several successful novels.
The first one, “The Thief Who Came to Dinner,” was published in 1971 by Doubleday. The manuscript was accepted by the publisher in the fall of 1970, when Terry was only 28. It was a major accomplishment; I know something about the publishing industry, and few first-time novelists get their work accepted by a leading New York house.
I had the pleasure of reading the manuscript a page at a time as it came out of the typewriter. (This was long before the age of computers and word processing.) From time to time I even made useful suggestions for improvement. It remains one of my fondest memories.
A year or so after the book was released, its film rights were sold to a Hollywood producer. A major motion picture starring Ryan OʼNeal and Jacqueline Bisset soon followed. In short, the book made a pretty big splash.
The decade of the ʻ70s turned out to be very productive for Terry. He published “Grownups and Lovers” (Doubleday, 1974), “The Devil & Webster Daniels” (Doubleday, 1975), “Who Killed the Pie Man?” (E.P. Dutton, 1975), “The Money War” (Atheneum, 1978), “Murder Behind Closed Doors” (Playboy Press, 1980), and “The Looking Glass Murders” (Playboy Press, 1980).
The books are now out of print, but as far as I know, they are all available on Amazon.com.
Although he had a keen intellect, he never finished a college degree. He dabbled in “higher education” but never got along with it very well, spending a semester or two each at Illinois Wesleyan, Kendall College, and Upsala College.
He was married twice. His second wife, Harriet, wrote for the Pantagraph for several years. Terry and Harriet had a daughter, Veronica, who lives in California.
Terry only spent junior and senior years at BHS because his family didn't move to town until the summer of ʻ58. So a number of our classmates didn't know Terry well. Those that do might best remember him for his activity in speech, theater and debate. He was a member of Forensic Club and had a leading part in the senior class play, “Stardust.”
RIP, Smiffy.
(Jim Bennett)
Terry Smith was Terry Smith. One of a kind. He too was a friend from church and school. Thought one time I would like to be Mrs. Smith, but God has a way of working those things out for us and it didn't happen.
(Andrea Brown)