Gregory White Smith | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 4, 1951 |
| Died | April 10, 2014 (aged 62) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Colby College Harvard Law School Harvard Graduate School of Education |
| Occupation | Author |
| Website | www.vangoghbiography.com; www.bestlawyers.com |
Gregory White Smith (October 4, 1951 – April 10, 2014) was an American biographer of both Jackson Pollock[1] and Vincent van Gogh.[2] In addition to writing 18 books with Steven Naifeh, Smith was an accomplished musician, historic preservationist, art collector, philanthropist, attorney, and businessman who founded several companies including Best Lawyers,[3] which spawned an entire industry of professional rankings.
His brain tumor, which was diagnosed in 1975, led to 13 brain surgeries as well as radiation and nuclear medicine treatments and experimental chemotherapeutic regimens. His search for cutting-edge medical care was profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes[4] and recounted in his book Making Miracles Happen.[5]
Jackson Pollock: An American Saga was published in 1990, winning the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.[1] The Philadelphia Inquirer called the book "Brilliant and definitive ... so absorbing in its narrative drive and so exhaustively detailed that it makes everything that came before seem like trial balloons."[6] Van Gogh: The Life, which Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called "magisterial",[7] was published in 2011 with a companion website hosting over 6,000 pages of notes.[8]
- ^ a b Naifeh, Steven W.; Smith, Gregory White (1989). Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. Clarkson Potter. ISBN 0517560844.
- ^ Naifeh, Steven W.; Smith, Gregory White (2011). Van Gogh: The Life. United States: Random House. ISBN 978-0375507489.
- ^ Smith, Gregory White. "Best Lawyers in America". Woodward/White, Inc. Archived from the original on November 18, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ^ "Gregory White Smith, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of Jackson Pollock and Van Gogh: The Life, Dies at 62". Baltic Review. April 10, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- ^ Smith, Gregory White (1997). Making Miracles Happen. Little Brown & Co. ISBN 0316597880.
- ^ Smith, Gregory White (1989). Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. Back Cover: Clarkston Potter. ISBN 978-0517560846.
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko (October 20, 2011). "The Persona and the Palette". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ^ Smith, Gregory White. "Van Gogh: The Life". Woodward/White, Inc. Retrieved May 13, 2014.