Warren Smith (author)

Warren Billy Smith, (Iowa, 1931–2003) was an American author who wrote books on cryptozoology and the hollow earth theory.

Life and career

Smith was a writer born in West Virginia on January 24, 1931, who lived in Iowa starting in 1953, living first in Davenport, then Durant, and from 1960 in Clinton, Iowa until his death on May 9, 2003. He published many newspaper reviews of automobiles, newspaper and magazine articles on boating and other subjects, and from 1965 until near his death, a huge number (over fifty) paranormal books on topics such as Bigfoot, ancient astronauts, Atlantis and lost cities.[1]

Smith was raised by his stepfather, a confidence man who brought him along as an accomplice on many of the cons they perpetrated in the hills of West Virginia. To hear Smith tell the story, the experience strongly influenced his attitudes towards life.

During the Second World War, as a teenager, Smith claimed to have worked in the defense industry at an Army ammunition plant, near Omaha, Nebraska. During this employment he was seriously injured when in a car accident, he was thrown from the back seat of the convertible he was riding in, fracturing his pelvis and being laid up for many months

In the early 50s he attended the Handy Writers colony located in Marshall, Illinois.

Warren Billy Smith was married to Joan M Smith (née Tully) whom he had met during his strike breaking days,eg union busting at newspapers.

In the early 60's Smith published a weekly newspaper in Durant, Iowa. He maintained the Chandler & Price letterpress along with all the type in his basement until his death in 2003. Also in the 60's, he was the publisher and editor of Volt Age, a trade journal dealing with rebuilding electric motors.

He is most well known for his books on the Hollow earth, and his book on Bigfoot called Strange Abominable Snowmen.[2][3] His book This Hollow Earth was a popular book on the hollow earth theory which discussed evidence from ancient myths and legends such as the Buddhist city of Agharta to the ideas of a physical hell found in religious texts to conclude they were based on actual places inside the earth. He also discussed in the book that there are tunnels in specific locations such as mountains in South America which lead into the interior of the earth.[4][5] He published a number of books under the pseudonym of Eric Norman and he co-wrote various books with the paranormal writer Brad Steiger. Warren Billy Smith is a self-admitted hoaxster who made up some of the UFO encounters he wrote about, most notably the Schirmer abduction. This claim is documented in a book written by one of Smith's confidants.[6]

Bibliography

Writing under Warren Smith:

Writing under the pseudonym Eric Norman:


Writing under the pseudonym Robert E. Smith:

References

  1. ↑ Warren B. Smith Papers, University of Iowa Libraries
  2. ↑ Bigfoot Casebook Updated, Sightings and Encounters from 1818 to 2004, by Janet & Colin Bord, foreword by Loren Coleman
  3. ↑ Do Bigfoot roam Southern California?
  4. ↑ Alec Maclellan, The lost world of Agharti: the mystery of Vril power, Souvenir Press, 1982
  5. ↑ Jerome Clark, Extraordinary encounters: an encyclopedia of extraterrestrials and otherworldly beings, ABC-CLIO, 2000
  6. ↑ Warren Billy Smith: UFO Investigator or Hoaxster?
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.