Smith, Catherine Rabbitt, 1926-1980

Mrs. Smith worked as a special writer for The Birmingham Eccentric newspaper, as well as doing freelance writing for numerous magazines and newspapers. Born in Philadelphia on February 21, 1926, Kay Rabbitt married Joseph E. Smith Jr. in 1951. They had five children and came to Birmingham in 1960, where their youngest child was born. Mrs. Smith was a member of many organizations, and served as president of the Detroit Women Writers and co-director of the Writers Conference, Oakland University in 1969. In 1978, Kay Smith received the Award of Merit from the Historical Society of Michigan for "successful efforts to stimulate interest in preserving the history of Bloomfield Township". She was the author of a history of Bloomfield Township, "Bloomfield Blossoms". When Mrs. Smith died in 1980, the flags in Bloomfield Township were lowered to half-mast in her honor. As a friend of Joyce Carol Oates, Kay Smith collected a number of articles written by and about the award-winning author.

Joyce Carol Oates was the 1967 winner of the O. Henry Award and received the National Book Award in 1970. Ms. Oates came to Detroit with her husband, Raymond J. Smith. and they both taught English: he at Wayne State University, she at the University of Detroit and, later, at the University of Windsor. Ms. Oates was a contributing editor for "The Ontario Review" and was a columnist for The Detroit News Magazine, 1969-70.