A child in a family of modest means, Bernell Warren Smith received the down-to-earth wisdom of parents who knew how to appreciate even the smallest gifts that life could offer. Wherever they lived, from Big Creek in the Sierras to coastal Santa Barbara, the author's mother would record the history of her family, whether grand or humble, with her Kodak Brownie camera, perched upon an orange crate for stability.
These moments, many of which are included in a photo section, provided Ms. Smith with a sort of template for her wide-eyed, picturesque worldview, and a vivid, engaging style of relating her life's tales. Poetic, but not somber, amusing, but never facile, Bernell Warren Smith's memoir reads like a wonderfully descriptive novel, which the reader will be reluctant to put down.
Review: "This is a warm and inspirational look back over more than eight decades...highly entertaining."
-Barnaby Conrad, author of The Martini and Learning to Write Fiction from the Masters
"...warm-hearted, humorous, and full of love...[Ms. Smith] is a gifted writer, with a wonderful ear for the nuances of speech and the ability to turn a nimble phrase. In short, these pictures of ordinary life when "shot" by a talented woman such as Ms. Smith become luminous portraits of the way we live."
-Steven Gilbar, editor of Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts
"Bernell Warren Smith transports readers to another time, place and family where the currency of everyday living is honesty, humor and sharing."
-Susan Miles Gulbransen, columnist, Santa Barbara News-Press
Bio: BERNELL WARREN SMITH resides with her husband, Stan, in Santa Barbara, California.
