Laurence Dwight Smith (1895-1952) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

specializing in

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

Early life and education

Smith was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan on January 24, 1895. After completing preparatory school at the

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

in 1914, he attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and, after graduating, took a job with the

Winchester Repeating Arms Company The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, Connecticut as a machinist. He married Kathryn Marsh of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in August 1917, and in January 1918 he enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. Having been promoted to sergent in the

Corps of Intelligence Police The Corps of Intelligence Police (CIP) was founded by Ralph Van Deman in 1917 as an intelligence agency within the United States Army, and the War Department. In World War I, many of the intelligence disciplines still in use today were deployed fo ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was discharged after the war in September 1919 at the age of 24.

Works

Fiction

* ''Death is thy neighbour'', 1938 * ''Girl Hunt'' Red Arrow Books, 1939 * ''The G-Men Smash the Professor's Gang'', Illustrated by Robb Beebe, 1936, Grosset & Dunlap * ''The G Men in Jeopardy''. Illustrated by Milton Marx. 1938. Grosset & Dunlap. * ''The G-Men trap the Spy Ring'' Illustrated by Paul Laune. 1939. Grosset & Dunlap * ''Mystery of the Yellow Tie'', 1939 * ''Hiram and other Cats'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1941 * ''Adirondack Adventure'', 1945 * ''Reunion'', Samuel Curl Inc, 1946

Non-fiction

* ''Cryptography - the science of secret writing'', W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1943 (US); George Allen and Unwin, London, 1944 (UK) * ''Hooked - Narcotics: America's Peril'', with Rafael de Soto, 1953 * ''Cryptography'' W.W Norton and Co, 1971 * ''Counterfeiting - crime against the people,'' 1944

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Laurence Dwight American crime fiction writers Cryptography books American crime novels American male novelists