Warren B. Smith Papers

Warren William (Billy) Smith lived in Iowa from 1953, residing first in Davenport, then Durant, and from 1960 in Clinton, Iowa, until his death on May 9, 2003. He published many newspaper reviews of automobiles, newspaper and magazine articles on boating and other subjects, and from 1965 until near his death, a substantial number of non-fiction and genre fiction titles in paperback editions, including western fiction..

The Warren Smith Papers include correspondence files documenting Smith's work as a writer, his journals from about 1984 until near his death in 2003, and copies of about 35 of his books. An unusual inclusion is a mimeograph copy of an early draft of James Jones' Some Came Running (1957), one of a few copies printed for use in selling Jones' novel to Hollywood. The draft was severely cut before publication.

June 2003