Background

Roland Smith was born on November 30, 1951, in Portland, Oregon.

Education

Smith attended Portland State University. He remembers his parents giving him an old manual typewriter when he was a little boy, and recalls banging away on the machine before he could even spell, just because he loved the way the letters looked on the paper. Not surprisingly, Smith became an English major in college and planned on becoming a writer.

Career

Graduating from university, Smith began working part-time at the Portland's children's zoo, which he thought might provide some interesting material to write about. Instead, it led to a more-than-twenty-year career in zoo keeping, first at Portland's main zoo, and then at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Washington, where Smith became a general curator and assistant director, as well as a senior research biologist.

While at Point Defiance, Smith became involved in a project to reintroduce the near-extinct red wolf into its native habitat of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi. Functioning as species coordinator and studbook keeper for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Red Wolf Recovery Team, he helped oversee the breeding of the last pairs of the endangered wolf, which were brought to Washington State for that purpose. Once enough litters of new wolves had been born, they were then placed back into the wild, bearing radio transmitters in collars to help with tracking. This successful project served as the basis of one of Smith's most popular nonfiction titles, Journey of the Red Wolf.

Working in Alaska to help save endangered animals from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill led to another title, Sea Otter Rescue. Such work led to appearances and interviews on local and national television shows, such as National Geographic, Audubon, and Discover the World of Science. Additionally, in his professional capacity, Smith authored numerous professional papers and presented them at meetings and conferences of scientific organizations as well as to the general public.

A chance meeting with well-known children's writer Dorthy Hinshaw Patent led to the publication of his first title in 1990, Sea Otter Rescue. Smith's long-time dream finally became a reality. Sticking with nonfiction at first, he contracted behind-the-scenes zoo books with Millbrook Press and Cobblehill Books. In 1992, his Primates in the Zoo and Snakes in the Zoo were published, followed by Inside the Zoo Nursery in 1993, and Cats in the Zoo and Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises in the Zoo in 1994.

Publication of his early titles and their reception by reviewers and readers encouraged Smith to leave zoo keeping behind and make writing his full-time profession. Other nonfiction titles have followed, including several books for the Lerner "Early Bird Nature Series": African Elephants and Vultures. In 1996, he published previously mentioned Journey of the Red Wolf, in which he recounts the efforts to save the rare red wolf from extinction. In 1997, Smith published his first novel, Thundercave. The book continues Smith's theme, as a teenage protagonist, Jacob Lansa follows his biologist father to Africa where the father is researching elephants. The Lansa character also appears in 1999s Jaguar and 2001's The Last Lobo. Other novels by Smith include The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe, Zach's Lie, Jack's Run, Cryptid Hunters, Sasquatch (novel), about a boy who searches for Bigfoot. Peak, the story of a teenage boy obsessed with climbing mountains, Elephant Run and Tentacles(novel). In 2008, Smith published the first book in the series I, Q, titled Independence Hall.

Achievements

• Roland Smith is most commonly known as a children's author who has carved a niche for himself both in nonfiction and fiction with such award-winning titles as Sea Otter Rescue, Journey of the Red Wolf, Thunder Cave, Jaguar, and Sasquatch. Smith's books have won "Book of the Year" awards in Colorado, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as in his native Oregon.

Works

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  • Cryptid Hunters

    (After their parents are lost in an accident, thirteen-yea...)

    2006
  • Zach's Lie

    (Moving to Elko, Nevada, as part of the Witness Security P...)

    2003
  • The Captain's Dog

    (Part history, part science - and adventure through and th...)

    2000
  • Peak

    (After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is arrested for sca...)

    2008
  • Elephant Run

    (In this thrilling journey through the jungles of Burma, R...)

    2009
  • Storm Runners #3: Eruption

    (The explosive conclusion to Roland Smith's fast-paced act...)

    2012
  • Ascent

    (After conquering the mountains in Afghanistan, Peak Marce...)

    2018
  • The Edge

    (The International Peace Ascent is the brainchild of billi...)

    2015
  • Tentacles

    (Roland Smith makes his Scholastic debut with a middle-gra...)

    2013
  • The Alamo (I, Q Book 4)

    (Fresh off a "too close" encounter with the terrorist grou...)

    2013
  • Sea Otter Rescue: The Aftermath of an Oil Spill

    (When the Exxon Valdez struck the rocks in Prince William ...)

    1999
  • Z Is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet

    (Z is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet is a true original, ex...)

    2014
  • Storm Runners

    (Chase Masters and his father are "storm runners," racing ...)

    2011
  • Above

    (Pat O'Toole and his brother, Coop, are on the run from an...)

    2016
  • The 39 Clues

    (After pulling some spectacular heists, Amy and Dan have b...)

    2012
  • Mutation

    (Monsters of legend come to life! The final thrilling titl...)

    2014
  • Sasquatch

    (Thirteen-year-old Dylan follows his father into the woods...)

    1999
  • Kitty Hawk (I, Q Book 3)

    (The president's daughter has been kidnapped by the elusiv...)

    2013
  • The White House (I, Q Book 2)

    (In Book One: Independence Hall, we met Q and his stepsist...)

    2013
  • Independence Hall

    (Thirteen-year-old Quest (Q) isn't sure he's ready for a n...)

    2013
  • Beneath

    (Pat O'Toole has always idolized his older brother, Coop. ...)

    2015

Views

Quotations: "My writing led me to animals and my work with animals led me back to writing. It's funny how things work out. I spent over twenty years working with animals. Now I'm going to spend the next twenty years writing about animals … as well as a few other things."

“The only thing you'll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below.”

“You don't have to be alone to feel alone.”

“a good writer should draw the reader in by starting in the middle of the story with a hook, then go back and fill in what happened before the hook. Once you have the reader hooked, you can write whatever you want as you slowly reel them in.”

Personality

While working as a zookeeper and research biologist, Smith never lost his love of writing, and he spent time early each morning teaching himself the basics of the writing craft. He also read voraciously, up to four books a week, and was a steady consumer of how-to writing books and other information about the publishing world.

Quotes from others about the person

• "When you read his books, you almost feel like you're inside the story, seeing through the eyes of his characters."

Connections

Smith lives in Tualatin, Oregon with his wife and stepchildren.