Error during command authentication.



Thank you, Kevin, for sharing this sad news and for your reminiscences. Ray was always such a dear friend, a knowledgeable and reliable source for books long before the internet and  a special part of ARLIS/NA. We'll miss him.

Carol Terry 

On Fri, Nov 5, 2021, 1:27 PM Kevin, at Mullen Books <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I have not seen this posted, so I am taking it upon myself to relay the following sad news regarding fellow ARLIS-NA member Ray Smith, of RW Smith, Bookseller, as pieced together from other posts.

"We've just learned that ABAA member Ray Smith has passed away. Please see the note below from Sharon and Phil of McBlain Books:

Dear Colleagues,

We are saddened to report that Ray Smith, our close friend and fellow ABAA member, died at Yale New Haven Hospital on Saturday October 16th. Ray grew up in New Jersey and Florida. He graduated from Stetson University in 1964 and spent the next several years at Yale studying for advanced degrees in their American Studies program while finding himself increasingly interested in photography.

In June of 1974, he set out on a journey with Suzanne Boyd of North Fitzroy, Australia. His purpose, as he later described it, was "... the somewhat Whitmanesque mission of capturing in photographs something about the America of the 1970s." Several weeks later, Suzanne's VW Beetle broke down completely in Kansas City. Ray headed back to New Haven and got a job through the end of that September taking ID card photos at colleges and universities in the South and Midwest, while continuing to his photographic quest and doing some book scouting.

Ray needed to make a living and decided in 1975 to become a fulltime bookseller specializing in material about American art. Sometime later he agreed to become the live-in curator at the John Slade Ely House in New Haven where, for at least a decade or two, he took care of upkeep, organized numerous art exhibitions and was able to devote time to bookselling. Several of his early scouting trips in New England were made in the company of two other Connecticut booksellers (John Gambino and Arthur Viens). 

Ray joined the ABAA in 1984. He exhibited at a few Boston Book Fairs before deciding that he preferred attending fairs where other exhibited. He was always a proud member of ABAA and was committed to bookselling.

Around 2010 Ray started thinking seriously about doing something with those photos taken in 1974. He set up his own darkroom and devoted a lot of time over the next few years to producing prints, working on a book, and finding institutions interested in exhibiting his photos. The book ("In Time We Shall Know Ourselves") was published by Peter Hasting Falk in 2014.  It was a lovely book with wonderful photos accompanied by thoughtful essays on the photos by Richard H. King and Alexander Nemerov. The exhibition opened in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts on June 14, 2014 and subsequently traveled to several other institutions in the South and Connecticut.

Ray recently became interested in doing a second book using photos taken in 1974 which he had not included in the first book. He even met in his hospital room for what turned out to be the last time with someone from Yale who was interested in a second book. When we retrieved items from his hospital room, one of the items was his little notebook from that 1974 trip.

Condolences and cards should be sent to Richard J. Smith, his surviving twin brother, at 7568 E. Escalon Ave., Clovis, CA 93619. No service is planned.

Phil and Sharon McBlain"

and my own reminiscences:

"I am deeply moved to be reading this sad news. Ray was one of my ABAA sponsors, and was one of my mentors in the 1990s when I decided to embark on the path of selling books about the Arts. It felt like friendly competition where I was always outclassed and outperformed by someone with an encyclopedic knowledge. I want to think I learned well at the knee of one of the Masters.

He treated me kindly, shared my sense of humor, and even laughed with an uncertain and tepid laughter when I would say things so bizarre that they landed on unfamiliar ears, like a lost language nobody had ever heard. He loved to share his knowledge of books, his experience with specific topics, and his familiarity with people I would never know. His familiarity with good pizza and good Thai food was legend in my household. His love of travel is eloquently revealed in his photography and writing. His filial devotion to his mother was endless and noble.

I am so blessed to have known him, learned from him and spent time with him. I will miss him when I am not thinking about our enjoyable interactions.

Kevin Mullen"




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~