Joanne Huist Smith is the author of The 13th Gift, a memoir published by Penguin Random House in Fall 2014. The New York Times bestseller also was a Woman’s Day Book Club Pick and the top holiday book sold on Amazon two years in a row.
“The book’s simple prose and profound message will fill even the Grinchiest hearts with Christmas spirit while affirming the age-old adage, it really is the thought that counts.” –USA Today
Smith is a native of Dayton, OH. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Wright State University and she worked as a reporter for the Dayton Daily News for 17 years. She is the mother of three and grandmother of three.