author
John Talbot Smith
1855–1923
A Catholic priest who also became a popular novelist and historian, he wrote stories and essays rooted in church life, small-town politics, and the North Country. His career moved between parish work, editing, and literary life, giving his books an unusually lived-in feel.
1 Audiobook
The Art of Disappearing
by John Talbot Smith
About the author
Born in Saratoga, New York, in 1855, John Talbot Smith studied at St. Michael’s College in Toronto and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1881 for the Diocese of Ogdensburg. He served in parishes and missions in northern New York and later became known not only as a clergyman, but also as a lecturer, editor, and man of letters.
He wrote both fiction and nonfiction, including novels such as Solitary Island and Saranac, along with church history and religious works like The Training of a Priest. His writing often drew on the places and communities he knew well, especially Catholic life in New York State.
Smith also edited the Catholic Review and helped found the Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven. He died in 1923, remembered as an energetic priest-author whose work joined pastoral experience with a storyteller’s eye.