| Graduation Year | Class of 1975 |
| Date of Passing | Mar 12, 2018 |
| About | Scott A. Smith died March 12, at his home in Mosier, Oregon. Scott was a long time representative at various times for a number of vendors, including Blackwell North America and Blackwell’s. He served for several years as director for the Langlois (Oregon) Public Library and later as a volunteer at public libraries near his Columbia Gorge home in Mosier, Oregon. He was a founding member of the planning committees for the Feather River Institute and the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge and his work contributed significantly to advances in library acquisitions and the development of our community of practice. He was a masterful storyteller and a convivial and attentive host at the Institutes. Scott Smith was born in Zanesville, Ohio on December 17, 1956 to Clara Louise Conaway Smith and Carl Emerson Smith. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1979, he horrified his parents by setting out on a motorcycle exploration of North America. He was in Portland, Oregon when Mt. St. Helens erupted. Volcanic ash fell from the sky like snow, and Scott was concerned for the safety of his motorcycle. So he found a "temporary" job with the bookseller Blackwell North America, where he remained for three decades. In the process, he found the passion of his life: books and their contents. He provided Blackwell's book acquisition services to university libraries, routinely visiting educational sites from Stanford to Barrow, Alaska. His travels on Blackwell's behalf ranged from China to Saudi Arabia. He played an active role in the American Library Association, and co-founded the annual Acquisitions Institute Conference at Timberline. Scott often combined his business travels with side trips and came back with stories (and sometimes costumes) to regale his audience. A gifted public speaker, he could recite stanzas of poetry in English and German. Or he could draw from his inexhaustible supply of bad jokes and tall tales. When the book business itself underwent tremendous upheaval, Scott went back to school, earned his Masters' degree in Library Science from Kent State University, and served as the town Librarian in Langlois, Oregon. Scott played at several musical instruments - including two recorders at the same time, in harmony. He could take apart a motorcycle and put it back together, and tended a beautiful garden. He is survived by his brothers Michael and Stephen, his niece Hannah, his wife Sieglinde, mother-in-law Elfriede, and girlfriend Rebecca. A "Scott Alan Smith Memorial Page" has been set up on Facebook. |
