(b. 27 October 1921 ) is a gay American activist, writer and humanist. For almost thirty years ( 1961 – 1990 ) he ran the Variety Recording Studio, a major independent company off Broadway , New York City .
He was born in Minburn , Iowa , son of Harry Clark Smith (1887-1975), a grain dealer in Minburn and Rippey , Iowa, and Ruth Marion Miles (1891-1975), daughter of a pioneering homesteader.
After his war service (1942-1946), during which he landed on Omaha Beach , he returned to academic study. In 1948 he received his B.A. in English and music from the University Of Northern Iowa and in 1949 his M.A. (in American Literature Since 1870) from Columbia University , where his advisor was Lionel Trilling .
Also in .
Smith was a teacher for 37 years in a progressive school, Bentley in New York City from 1950 to 1954, and then at New Canaan High School in Connecticut {Link without Title} from 1954 to 1986). He attended the Teachers College of Columbia University from 1961 to 1962.
In his life outside work, he was book review editor of ''The Humanist'' {Link without Title} (1953–1958) and for the '' Library Journal '', where in the 1960s he reviewed Dick Gregory 's '' Nigger ''.
He founded the "Hvmanist Book Clvb (XXVII Millport Ave., New Canaan, CT)", using the name "Lvcretivs" (1957-1962). To join, subscribers had to resign from at least one other book club. Although '' Saturday Review '' did a write-up about the club's use of parody, it genuinely supplied books for Eastern Oregon University , Harvard , and others.
With Fernando Vargas he founded in 1961 the , which became a major independent company on 42nd Street just off Broadway , using the motto, "in the heart of showbiz."
The studio recorded clients, then supplied acetate 33, 45, or 78 rpm disks, LPs, cassettes, album jackets, mothers, stampers and cartridges. Their clients included Robert Alda , David Amram , Paul Anka , Jerry Bock , Irving Caesar , Sammy Cahn , Paddy Chayevsky , Chubby Checker , Bobby Darin , Bob Fosse , Earl Garner , Marvin Hamlisch , Hildegarde , Jay And The Americans , Thad Jones , Maurice Levine , Meadowlark Lemon , Barry Manilow , Mary Martin , Galt McDermott , Joseito Mateo , Ethel Merman , David Merrick , Arthur Miller , Mills Music , Liza Minnelli , Issachar And Taipora Miron , Odetta , Eddie Palmieri , Joseph Papp , Gilbert Price , Tito Puente , Doc Severinsen , Carly Simon , Paul Simon , Sun Ra And His Arkestra , Tiny Tim , Sarah Vaughan , Gwen Verdon , Eli Wallach , Harold Wheeler , Robert Whitehead , Stefan Wolpe , and others.
In 1996 at a humanist convention in Mexico he met 's 2005 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize , of whom he became a friend, webmaster and editor.
His correspondence with E. E. Cummings , John Dewey , Walter Lippmann , Thomas Mann , Bertrand Russell , George Santayana , Albert Schweitzer , John Steinbeck , William Carlos Williams , and others is found in the Houghton Library at Harvard.
In 2005 he originated the Philosopedia website .
– http://chelCpress.com
- 2000 [http://www.barricadebooks.com/ ''Who's Who in Hell''] (NY: Barricade Books, 2000) - a handbook and international directory for humanists, freethinkers, naturalists, rationalists, and non-theists; received a front-page review/interview in The New York Observer and a CNN interview by Jeanne Moos .
- 2002 ''Celebrities in Hell'' (NY: Barricade Books, 2002) - a listing of contemporary non-revelationists from Woody Allen and Marlon Brando to Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Christopher Reeve, and Frank Zappa
- 2005 [http://www.chelCpress.com ''Gossip from Across the Pond''] - ten years of Smith's British column about gay non-believers
- 2005 ''Cruising the Deuce'' - a serious study of the 1940s to 1980s subculture on New York City's 42nd Street; foreword by [http://www.vernbullough.com/bullough/index.html ], fellow and former President, Society for the Scientific Study of Sex; copy was requested by the Kinsey Institute ; '''John Waters''' asked to use the book as a prop in a 2005 movie.
(His four books have been written and published since his 80th birthday).
- 1994-1998 "Humanist Potpourri". [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=fi&page=details ''Free Inquiry"]; "Paul Cadmus: Artist-Humanist," August 1996
- 1970s "Manhattan Scene," in St. Thomas '''Daily News' and twenty other West Indian newspapers
- 1960 - to date ''Pinhooker'' - editor, a newsletter for Minburn High School (Iowa) graduates
- 1967-1993 ''Taking Stock'', editor, newsletter of the Mensa Investment Club
- 1990-1993 ''Pique'', founding editor, newsletter of the Secular Humanist Society of New York
- 1997-1998 ''Janestreeter'' , editor, newsletter for Jane Street residents, Greenwich Village
- 1990s – to date ''Emeritus'' , editor, newsletter of New Canaan Public School retirees
- ''American Rationalist'' (St. Louis, MO) a bi-monthly journal of the Rationalist Association
- ''Beacon'' (Melbourne, Australia) "Sinclair Lewis Died a Humanist," October 1951
- ''Bermuda Recorder'' ("Manhattan Chessboard" column in the 1970s)
- ''Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly'' (McMaster U, Canada), a quarterly
- ''Brooklyn Eagle'', 1958 book review written under the name of Allen Windsor
- ''Daily News'' (New York City), largest daily newspaper in New York City
- ''Examiner'', African-Americans for Humanism (Buffalo, New York)
- ''Free Inquiry'' (Buffalo, New York) "Humanist Heretic: Priscilla Smith Robertson (1910-1989)"
- ''The Freethinker'' (London), Secular Humanist Monthly
- ''Freethought Today'' (Madison, Wisconsin), Freedom From Religion Foundation
- ''Gay & Lesbian Humanist'' (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, United Kingdom), a quarterly by the Pink Triangle Trust 1996
- ''Humanist'' (Yellow Springs, Ohio; Buffalo, NY; Washington, DC) In addition to being the journal's book review editor in the mid-1950s, Smith wrote "Authors and Humanism, A Classification of Humanism, and Statements," #5, 1951, pp. 193-204
- ''Humanist in Canada'' (Ottawa, Canada)
- ''Humanist World Digest'' (Berkeley, California) – "Two Laughing Humanists: Lin Yutang and Carl Jonas." August 1955
- ''The Janestreeter'' (New York City)
- ''Lesbian and Gay New York'' ( 13 July 2000 )
- ''New York Times'', 9 June 1960 – an explanation of why Adlai Stevenson is favored over Dwight Eisenhower for President.
- ''New York Times Book Review'', 27 October 1957 – favors the thinking of Bertrand Russell and criticizes Reinhold Niebuhr.
- ''One'' (July 1958, "If One Needs Religion," New York and California)
- ''Philosophy Now'' - (United Kingdom)
- ''The Sinfonian'' (Phi Mu Alpha Online, Evansville, Indiana), "A Sinfonian's Relationship with Jazz Great Sun Ra."
- ''New Humanist'' (London) - Quarterly Journal of the Rationalist Press Association
- ''St. Kitts-Nevis Daily Bulletin'', 1 April 1964 – contains front-page haikus written by Smith
- ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (Amherst, New York) - bi-monthly journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
- ''The Villager'' (New York City) "Gay in the 1960s – the Time Was Ripe for Revolution," 18 June 2003 ; "New Book Examines Gay Movement Before Stonewall," a review of Vern L. Bullough's Before Stonewall
- ''Waterloo (Iowa) Courier'' - "Is 'Music Man' A Picture of Iowa Neighbors? New Yorker - Says Play Shows 'Folksey' Touch." 3 February 1958
- André, Irving W. ''Edward Oliver LeBlanc and the Struggle to Transform Dominica'' (Roseau, Dominica: Pont Casse Press, 2005) - Foreword of a Canadian judge's biography of the "Father of the Nation" of the West Indian island of Dominica
- Asimov, Isaac and Janet Asimov (editor), ''It's Been a Good Life'' (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 2002) - book jacket blurb - final chapter of the book reveals that Asimov died of AIDS, following a tainted blood transfusion, which was not generally known until the book was published.
- Nasreen, Taslima, ''All About Women'' (New Delhi, Rupa & Co., 64 pages, paperback, 2005). Poetry edited by Smith
- Nasreen, Taslima, ''Love Poems of Taslima Nasreen'' (New Delhi, Rupa & Co., 46 pages, paperback, 2005) - Poetry edited by Smith
- Nastrin, Taslima, ''Meyebela: My Bengali Girlhood'' (Steerforth Press, 2002) - Autobiography edited by Smith
- Nasrin, Taslima, ''Phera'' (2005) - Novel edited by Smith
- Salazar, Manuel, ''Manuel Salazar: Costa Rica's Forgotten Tenor'' (Ticowasm, 2001) - Liner notes for a CD about Melico, Caruso's competitor - includes photos of Smith and Fernando Vargas, who transcribed the music from 78rpm records to LP and then to CD
- Smith, Warren Allen - podcasts: 'Interviewing William James'', a 2005 podcast about Willy, who was first arrested as a 12-year-old in Washington near the White House and whose life in the subculture helps document Allen Windsor's ''Cruising the Deuce'', about Manhattan's notorious 42nd Street - ''Interviewing Taslima Nasrin'' - a 2005 podcast about the Bangladesh dissident with a fatwa on her head, the "female Salman Rushdie" who prefers to call him "the male Taslima Nasrin." If you do not have Apple Computer's iTunes already, download it for free Here! If asked, subscribe - it's free.
"Are You in Hell?" New York City - Atheist Chapter is told about having interviewed atheist Charles Smith in the early 1950s. 19 January 2003
"Celebrities in Hell," a discussion by the author. New York Society for Ethical Culture , 4 September 2002 .
"Humanist VIP's: Their Impact Upon the Present and Probable Impact Upon the Future." New York City, Community (Unitarian) Church , 2 June 1957 - suggested that naturalistic humanism today is somewhat analogous to 19th century transcendentalism, except it relies entirely upon the scientific method of reasoning.
"The Role of the Little Magazine in Shaping Public Opinion." Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan. 6 December late 1950s - He was invited by Nobel Prize Winner in genetics, and spoke as the Book Review Editor of ''The Humanist'' about the role of little magazines.
"Waukee's Old Hotel" - during a September 2005 fall festival, Smith spoke about the hotel in this Des Moines, Iowa, suburb that his Grandfather Spencer Smith built and where his father Harry Clark Smith was born; the building is the oldest still-standing structure in the town.
Numerous lectures to humanist and non-theist groups in California, Connecticut, Costa Rica, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and elsewhere. In addition, he was interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR), CNN, and numerous local and nationwide radio and television programs. . .
- ''Who's Who in the World'' (1977 to date)
- ''Who's Who in America''
- Dunham, Barrows. ''Giant in Chains'' (Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1953) Is critical of Smith's categorizations of different humanisms (pp. 27-31)
- Ellis, Royston, "Who's Who," in ''Explore Sri Lanka'', May 2003
- Lamont, Corliss, "The Enduring Impact of George Santayana," NY: Basic Pamphlets, 1964 - Quotes George Santayana's letter to Smith, "My Naturalism is fundamental and includes man, his mind, and all his works, products of the generative order of Nature. Christ in the Gospels is a legendary figure." (p. 12)
- Lamont, Corliss. ''The Philosophy of Humanism'' (NY: Frederick Ungar, 1965). "In a carefully documented study, 'Authors and Humanism,' Warren Allen Smith, a Humanist teacher, quotes Sinclair Lewis as stating: 'Yes, I think that naturalistic Humanism – with dislike for verbalistic philosophy – is my category.' " (p. 76)
- ''Leading Men in the United States of America''. Providence, R.I., Riverside, 1965
- Lyons, Leonard. "The Lyons Den," ''New York Post'', 3 March 1954 . Refers to Smith's seeing an anachronistic Brooklyn telephone directory in the library of the stage set for T. S. Eliot's Confidential Clerk on Broadway
- Lyons, Leonard, "The Lyons Den," ''New York Post'', 17 March 1957 - Refers to Smith's noticing from his balcony seat that Tallulah Bankhead actually plays a good chess game during a scene of Eugenia on Broadway.
- Mariani, Paul, ''William Carlos Williams'' (NY: McGraw Hill, 1981) - "Warren Allen Smith, book review editor for The Humanist, had written Williams that same week to ask him if he thought of himself as a humanist. And if he was, was he a theistic humanist or a secular humanist? No use dealing with the question in that way, Williams answered on the twenty-fifth. Atheism , he wrote, was 'laughable as a positive belief.' Death awaited every man, and that seemed to be the end of the matter. And while he knew that there was no use sounding 'positive' about that conclusion, as a doctor he did kow that 'since all data in the case are withheld from me I find myself absolutely unconcerned.' All his life he had lived 'side by side with men who believe in the miracles of Christ,' and though they were his friends, he never thought of discussing his beliefs with them or they with him. . . . I was bred a Unitarian,' he underlined, 'but whether I transect the cone of my preferences nearer or farther from the light has become as I grow older indifferent to me. . . .Being forced back from any knowledge except the report of the senses,' he concluded, 'a humanistic naturalism is all that is left to me lit by the lightnings which play about the minds of saints and sinners.' Thus, having opted rationally for a pragmatic naturalsm, he threw out the possibility that it was the Light after all which he wanted to celebrate. If there were contradictions in what he said, he'd nevertheless said what he had to say; let someone else unscramble it." (p. 723)
- Mensa Register (London: Mensa) 1964-5 A first listing. He has remained a member.
- Morain, Lloyd and Mary Morain. ''Humanism as the Next Step, An Introduction for Liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews''. (Boston, Beacon Press, 1954) - Cites Smith as one of the "energetic humanists."
- ''New Canaan Advertiser'', "Fire Destroyed Only His Studio, 'Dead Man' Says" 11 July 1968 – Fire losses in excess of $100,000 to his two New York City business were sustained by the "deceased" Warren Allen Smith, chairman of the English department at New Canaan High School. Recently, an erroneous news report was broadcast by a Manhattan radio station that Mr. Smith, a resident of 94 Millport Avenue, had perished in a three-alarm fire at his New York recording studio, Later accounts of the fire omitted mention of Mr. Smith's "demise," but no correction was made. "Reports of my demise are highly exaggerated," said Mr. Smith after receiving calls to see whether he was in fact alive. . . .The fire began in the Arena Theatre in West 46th Street and raged for seven hours, forcing many in the nearby Hotel Edison to be routed from their rooms. Fire officials believe the fire was started by arsonists. Within a few days after the fire, Mr. Smith had re-formed the studios and had relocated at 130 West 42nd Street."
- Santayana, George. ''Letters of George Santayana''. Edited by Daniel Cory. (NY: Scribner's, 1955) - Includes the poet-philosopher's 9 February 1951 letter to Smith about naturalism.
- ''Standard and Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executive, U.S. and Canada'', 1965. (NY: Standard & Poor's Corp, 1965) - A first listing, including Smith's being Chairman and President of Variety Sound Corporation and Vice President with Fernando Vargas of Borodva, a Westinghouse laundry near Columbia University
- ''Time'', Vol. 85, #5, 29 January 1965 - Quotes Smith on sex and dducation: "If Booth Tarkington were to write ''Seventeen'' today, he'd have to call it ''Twelve''."
- ''Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges," 1945-1948 - A first listing
|
