Smith, Burton Jay.

Burton Jay Smith was born on January 11, 1916, in Adrian, Michigan. His parents were Burt H. and Lucia (Jones) Smith. Desiring to become a schoolteacher, Smith attended Adrian College and then the University of Michigan, where he obtained his B.S. He became a science teacher in the Wyandotte, Michigan public school system, and also worked as a summer camp counselor at Camp Davaja in Brighton, MI. Willametta Turnepseed was born in Russell, Kansas in 1909 .Her family moved from Kansas to Springfield, Ohio, where she lived much of her early life. She graduated from high school at fifteen, at which time she had already begun to take an interest in the world of amateur journalism. Turnepseed wrote a number of short stories between 1935-1942 for such publications as All-Story Love Stories and Street and Smith's Love Story Magazine. In 1936 Smith joined the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA), and in the winter of that year published his first amateur magazine, Eisegesis. He published a number of other journals, including Amateur World, Micros, Avocation, and Tanacovio. In April 1941 he published the first issue of Literary Newsette; from the seventh issue onwards, the journal was co-edited by his amateur journalist colleague Willametta Turnepseed, who carried on publication alone after Smith's induction into the military. Smith and Turnepseed fell in love and were engaged to be married in May 1942.