Smith, Kay Nolte

An American author, translator and debater (writing on cultural issues), who aroused attention with her seven novels, as well as a number of short stories and essays that, however, have never been gathered together in book form. She grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and studied at the University of Minnesota, where she graduated with a B.A. in 1952. She went on to study at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, gaining an M.A. in 1955. In 1958, she married Philip J. Smith, and worked as a copywriter for various companies in the advertising industry 1957-62. She had been very interested in the theatre since her youth and she embarked upon a career as an actress, which included performances on Broadway under the artiste-name Kay Gillian 1962–75. After leaving the theatre she became a teacher at Brookdale College and Trenton State College in New Jersey 1975–82, while simultaneously working as a consultant for a laboratory company. She died of cancer in 1963.