Bridget Smith

My name is Bridget Smith and I am a writer living in Juneau, Alaska. This web site is a place to post my writing, both published and unpublished. I have written novels, essays, short stories, and radio commentaries. I even kept a blog for a time: Mostly Alaska, powered by blogspot. Looking back on decades of writing, my life as a writer has meant experimenting with many different forms. A writer has to be curious, right? One novel of mine was published by St. Martin’s Press, Death of an Alaskan Princess. I started a small press, Firsthand Press, to publish two books: one on gardening, Color in Rain Country, and the other a collection of essays by Alaskan writers, On People and Things Alaskan.

Although I was born in Washington, D.C., I grew up in Yakima, Washington in a family of women: my mother, my grandmother, and my younger sister. My father died when I was two years old. Raised Catholic, I lived in the shadow of the Cathedral and I attended Catholic elementary and high schools. I have an undergraduate degree in Cross-Cultural Education from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and a Master’s in Psychology from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

I moved to Alaska in 1968 with my family and, except for school, some teaching in China, and travels throughout much of the world, I have never left. I am married with two adult daughters who live in Juneau, and two young grandchildren. I fervently believe in the incredible potential of Alaska and want to continue to be an active part of its future. Other than writing, my professional work has been in education, teaching adult courses in citizenship, GED prep, and English as a Second Language, as well as coaching parents in best practices for young children, and collaborating with leaders in small communities to create programs to help young people thrive.

I am interested in just about everything. Curiosity may have killed the cat but it has never hurt me. To me, wonder and awe are rational responses to our world.