About Wm. Hovey Smith
Wm. Hovey Smith is the author of 13 books that have included publishing four of the first books ever published about AIDS, one on regional architecture, three on geology, a book of children’s stories, a children’s play, one on bowfishing, another on crossbow hunting, and the most recent Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound. Written, but unpublished, are two books on muzzleloading hunting, a book on hunting knives, a new to the world Christmas story and a screen play.
In addition to producing book-length works, Smith has written thousands of newspaper and magazine articles on outdoor and environmental subjects since his first pieces were published in the 1970s. He is also an accomplished story teller, and two hour-long CDs with his stories is now being readied for release.
“Writing is part of my life, and is something that I almost ‘must’ do,” Smith stated. “I have always felt that if there was a need to be met, such as the case in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, some writer needed to fill it. I had the world’s leading experts coming to Atlanta to present their findings on one of the hottest topics in the world. As a writer, this was a challenge that I felt that I had to take up.
“Similarly, bowfishermen and crossbow hunters did not have a current book that represented these activities. These were unmet needs that I filled with the publication of Practical Bowfishing in 2004 and Crossbow Hunting in 2006. With millions of people projected to be out of work during the 2009-2010 hunting seasons, it struck me that there would be a great need for a plain-language book that would tell them how to hunt deer and feed their families. Backyard Deer Hunting became that book. ”
The author was born in Sandersville, Georgia, and returned to his home town to live in the early 1980s. He received his B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Georgia and his M.S. in Geology from the University of Alaska. As a professional geologists he worked throughout North America. He is a member of a number of writers’ associations, including POMA, OWAA, SEOPA and GOWA and is past president of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association. He was won numerous awards for his work, which have always been noted for considering unusual topics with a degree of humor and having a flare for including the unexpected.