Background
Born on December 15, 1896, in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrants, she grew up poor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and attended Girls" High School.
novelist playwright screenwriter writer
Born on December 15, 1896, in Brooklyn, New York to German immigrants, she grew up poor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and attended Girls" High School.
Although Smith had not finished high school, the university allowed her to enroll in classes.
These experiences served as the framework to her first novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943). After marrying George H. East. Smith, a fellow Brooklynite, she moved with him to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he pursued a law degree at the University of Michigan. At this time, she gave birth to two girls and waited until they were in school so she could complete her higher education.
She was a student in the classes of Professor Kenneth Thorpe Rowe.
She teamed with George Abbott to write the book for the 1951 musical adaptation of the same name. Her other novels include Tomorrow Will Be Better (1947), Maggie-Now (1958) and Joy in the Morning (1963).
On January 17, 1972, she died from pneumonia in Shelton, Connecticut, at the age of 75.