LOS ANGELES, CA, March 09, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present George Drury Smith with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Smith celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Inspired by his interest in experimental avant-garde writing, Mr. Smith founded Beyond Baroque magazine in 1968. He subsequently established the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, California, a nonprofit educational organization. Offering an extensive program of public readings, workshops, a project room, bookstore, publications and a chapbook and small press archive, it serves as one of the U.S.'s leading independent literary and arts centers and public spaces dedicated to expanding the public's knowledge of poetry, literature and art through cultural events and community interaction. Today, it is said to be one of just a few such institutions in the country. After resigning as the president and director of Beyond Baroque in 1980, Mr. Smith remained on the board of trustees for another decade.
Another noteworthy role to Mr. Smith's credit is his affiliation with The Argonaut in Los Angeles. Hired by the weekly newspaper in 1972 and later retiring in 2009, he held the roles of copy editor, associate publisher and chief financial officer. He also contributed as a trainer and reservations manager for Pan American World Airways in Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas and taught foreign languages and English as a second language in San Jose and Santa Monica. Mr. Smith notably speaks English, French, Spanish and German.
A committed civic advocate, Mr. Smith has served as a leader in various community initiatives. To wit, he earned distinction as the chairman of the Save Westminster Auditorium Committee in Venice. Mr. Smith was also a member of the advisory board for the Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles.
The author of the "The Slant Hug O'Time," Mr. Smith's book is described as an alternate-history tale of invention, corporate control and hidden agendas. It was published by Kitsune Books in 2012. Mr. Smith was the co-translator of the 2014 book "A Higher Form of Politics: The Rise of a Poetry Scene, Los Angeles, 1950-1990" by Sophie Rachmuhl. What's more, he served as an editor for NewBooks and NewLetters between 1969 and 1978.
Producer and director Peter Fitzgerald Adams created a 30-minute documentary, titled "Beyond Mr. Smith." The film recounts his 91-year odyssey from being gay in the 1940s, to establishing the Los Angeles' avant-garde literary scene and his battles with alcoholism and his lover's death from AIDs. The documentary also reveals the difficulties that Mr. Smith faced before publishing his first book at age 87, and the life affirming philosophy.
Mr. Smith studied in France, Spain, Austria and Germany for three years as an undergraduate before receiving a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in French and Spanish with a minor in German in 1953 at Marietta College. He proceeded to complete graduate coursework at the University of Minnesota, the University of California Berkeley and the University of California Los Angeles. Mr. Smith is a certified teacher through the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing.
Well-regarded in his field, Mr. Smith secured several grants between 1973 and 1980 from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Coordinating Council of Literacy Magazines and the Municipal Arts Commission. A celebrated Marquis listee, he has been cited in over 30 editions of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in Finance and Business. Mr. Smith has been happily married to his husband, Leston Buell, since 1996.
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