author
John Talbot Smith
1855–1923
A priest, novelist, and historian, he wrote lively fiction and nonfiction that brought Catholic life in late 19th- and early 20th-century America to a broad audience. His work moves between parish life, social questions, and the landscapes of northern New York.
1 Audiobook
The Art of Disappearing
by John Talbot Smith
About the author
Born in Saratoga, New York, in 1855, John Talbot Smith was educated by the Christian Brothers and studied for the priesthood at St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He was ordained in 1881 for the Diocese of Ogdensburg and went on to serve in missionary work, parish ministry, and chaplaincies in New York.
Alongside his church work, he built a notable literary career. He wrote novels, short fiction, essays, and history, including works connected to Catholic life and the Church in New York. He also edited the New York Catholic Review and helped found the Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven, showing how seriously he took both ideas and public conversation.
Smith died in Dobbs Ferry, New York, in 1923. He is remembered as an Irish-American Catholic writer whose books and articles tried to make faith, culture, and everyday American experience speak to one another in a direct, readable way.