S. Stephenson Smith (1897–1961)

Samuel Stephenson Smith was born on April 3, 1897 in Albia. Iowa. Son of George Samuel and Zulah Virginia (Holsclaw) Smith.

Bachelor of Arts, Reed College, 1915. Bachelor of Letters, University of Oxford, England.

Principal high school, Myrtle Point, Oregon, 1916, Omak, Washington, 1917. Principal junior and senior high school, Toppenish, Washington, 1918-1920. Assistant professor of English, University of Oregon, 1925-1927, associate professor, 1927-1934, professor, 1934-1939, tennis coach 1929-1933.

Educational counselor, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1939-May 1943. Eastern representative, Pacific Coast Broadcasting Company, Pasadena, California, November 1943-August 1944. Associate editor, Newsweek 1944-1945.

Executive editor Research Institute American, 1945-1946. President Wordsmith, publisher for the Word-Trades, since 1947. Edit. staff American College Dictionary, 1947.

Managing editor International Musician, 1948-1953. Lecturer editing and semantics New York University, since 1947. Executive director Composers-Authors Guild, 1950-1953.

Supervising editor Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionaries, 1955-1958. Dictionary editor Holt, Rinehant & Winston, Inc., 1959-1961. President Oregon Commonwealth Federation (farmer-labor coalition), 1937-1941.

Secretary Oregon Committee for Selection of Rhodes Scholars, 1933-1939. Author: The Craft of the Critic, 1931. The Command of Words. Double Your Vocabulary, 1947. The Style Rule, 1947. Contributor articles and stories to mags.

Married Lois-Jean Rasch, 1932 (divorced, 1942). Married second, Eleanor May Touhey, 1949.