Wade C. (Wade Cothran) Smith

Born in 1869 and known as Wade Cothran Smith, he was an American evangelist, pastor, and religious writer. He wrote for young people in a direct, encouraging voice, and his best-known book, Say Fellows—: Fifty Practical Talks with Boys on Life's Big Issues, grew out of his weekly Sunday school lesson work for The Sunday School Times.

Smith also wrote The Little Jetts Telling Bible Stories, and later tributes noted that he was the author of around nine books, with some of his writing translated into other languages. A church history from Fontana Community Church in North Carolina lists him as pastor there from 1948 to 1953, showing that his ministry continued alongside his writing well into later life.

He died in 1960. Though not a widely known literary figure today, his work offers a clear picture of early-20th-century Protestant writing for children and boys: practical, moral, and meant to be read aloud, discussed, and lived out.