​​​​​Howard Jay Smith is an award-winning writer from Santa Barbara, California. 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘; 𝗢𝗣𝗨𝗦 𝟭𝟯𝟵 & 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗭𝗢 𝗗𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘 are respectively his third and fourth books along with 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗗 (Random House) and 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗥: 𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 (New London Press). He was recently awarded a 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗘. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱. Smith is a former 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗳 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 & 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗗.𝗖. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄, who taught for many years in the 𝗨𝗖𝗟𝗔 Extension Writers’ Program and has lectured nationally. His articles and photographs have appeared in the 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁, American Heritage Magazine, the 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻, the 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮, the 𝗢𝗷𝗮𝗶 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆, and numerous trade publications. While an executive at 𝗔𝗕𝗖 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝗧𝗩, and 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, he worked on numerous film, television, radio, and commercial projects. He serves on the board of directors of the 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 and is a member of the 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆.​ He is currently at work on another novel, ​VERDI & VIOLETTA.