FL H9029

Patrick D. Smith was born on October 8, 1927, in Mendenhall, Mississippi, and earned both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Mississippi

Served as Director of Public Relations at Brevard Junior College (now Eastern Florida State College) from 1966 until his retirement in 1988

Authored "A Land Remembered," a multigenerational novel set in Florida that was published in a two-volume student edition and approved by the Department of Education for use in public schools

Received numerous honors including a 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature nomination, three Pulitzer Prize nominations, induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1999, declaration as "Greatest Living Floridian" by the Florida Historical Society in 2002, and recognition as a "Great Floridian" by Governor Rick Scott in 2013

Passed away on January 26, 2014, at age 86 at Vitas Hospice in Merritt Island, survived by his wife Iris, two children, five grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren