Michael Thomas Smith was born on April 22, 1955 in Union, South Carolina, as the first child to Elizabeth “Betty Sue” Smith and Jesse “Rabbit” Barrayl. Due to congestive heart failure, Michael passed away on February 4th, 2009. He is survived by his two sisters: Peggy Lee Evans and Alice Irene Snow, two nieces, Whitney Sefcik and Elizabeth Garza, and a nephew, Justin Sefcik; along with several in-laws, friends and co-workers who came to know his imaginative and intellectual side. Michael T. Smith graduated from Corpus Christi’s Roy Miller High, and earned a B.A. from Brownwood’s Howard Payne University in 1978. He served in the Texas Air National Guard as a Chaplain’s Assistant.
Some of his close friends were: Bobby Branstetter, Jeff Spalding, and Donny Walker; and these sparked the imagination and friendships of Shannon Love, Michael Cope and David Snow.
While a resident of New Jersey for 20 years, Michael served in Community Homes for Delinquent youths, and upon returning home to Texas, worked his last four years in Direct Care at The Denton State School with special needs individuals.
Michael was an avid reader of Sci-Fi and Fantasy throughout his life; among his favorite authors were R.E. Howard and Robert Heinlein. Michael T. Smith was amateur writer, dear friend and will be greatly missed by those who knew him best.
A fitting tribute.
ReplyDeleteMichael introduced to the literacy side of the fantasy and science-fiction I learned as a child. He explained many of the basic ideas of story construction in a way that, unlike my formal education, made the concept concrete. He used stories that I liked and I had selected myself to demonstrate how authors told their tales. Much of my appreciation of literature since then has resulted from Michael's tutelage.
Sorry about your friend, He was young still, barely older than me.
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