Ray Smith, born James Raymond Smith, (1941 - 2019) was a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

writer. He was born on 12 December 1941 in Cape Breton (

Inverness, Nova Scotia Inverness (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Inbhir Nis'') is a Canadian rural community in Inverness County, Nova Scotia. It is about an hour's drive north from the Canso Causeway and about an hour south from Cape Breton Highlands National Park. In 2021, i ...

) and educated at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

, Halifax (B.A. 1963), and at

Concordia University Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the th ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

(M.A. 1985). He worked as an instructor in English at

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acres ...

, Montreal, until his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 2007. In the early 1970s he joined with authors

Clark Blaise Clark Blaise, OC (born April 10, 1940) is a Canadian-American author. He was a professor of creative writing at York University, and a writer of short fiction. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. Early life and education ...

Raymond Fraser Raymond Fraser (May 8, 1941 – October 22, 2018) was a Canadian biographer, editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet and short story writer. Fraser published fourteen books of fiction, three of non-fiction, and eight poetry collections. Fras ...

Hugh Hood Hugh John Blagdon Hood, OC (b in Toronto, Ontario 30 Apr 1928 – d in Montreal, Quebec 1 Aug 2000) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist and university professor. Hood wrote 32 books: 17 novels including the 12-volume New Age ...

, and John Metcalf to form the celebrated Montreal Story Tellers Fiction Performance Group. Smith's works include the novels ''Lord Nelson Tavern'' (

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. ...

, 1974), '' A Night at the Opera'' ( Porcupine's Quill, 1992), which won the 1992 QSPELL Hugh MacLennan Award for Best Novel, and ''

The Man Who Loved Jane Austen ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (Porcupine's Quill, 1999). He has also published the short story collections ''Cape Breton Is the Thought Control Centre of Canada''(

Anansi Press House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anansi ...

, 1969) and ''Century'' His short fiction has also appeared in numerous anthologies. In 2007, he published ''The Flush of Victory: Jack Bottomly Among the Virgins''. In August 2010, literary critics

Alex Good Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

and

Stephen W. Beattie Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to deat ...

included Smith in their list of the ten most underrated writers in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, published on the

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

's website. He died at his home in

Mabou Mabou is an unincorporated settlement in the Municipality of the County of Inverness on the west coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The population in 2011 was 1,207 residents. It is the site of The Red Shoe pub, the An Drochaid ...

on 20 June 2019.The Chronicle Herald (25 June 2019)
Obituary
Retrieved 31 July 2019.

References

External links

Archives of Ray Smit
(Ray Smith fonds, R11807)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ray Academic staff of Dawson College Dalhousie University alumni Concordia University alumni People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia Living people Writers from Nova Scotia 1941 births