Professor EmeritusL. Christian Smith passed away peacefully on June 1, 2022. A skilled and very popular teacher, he specialized in the history of American popular culture, which he studied through reading and contemporary observation. With his love of history, and blessed with a resonant bass voice and an infectious laugh, Chris was a noted story teller in the classroom, in public lectures, and in conversations with others, recounting tales about himself, his friends, and historical figures.  

Professor Smith was born January 14, 1938 in Gloversville, New York, later moving to Larchmont, New York, where he completed high school. He earned his BA from Union College in January 1960, after which he attended several universities before teaching high school for four years. In 1965 he was admitted to the University of Illinois, where he received his MA in 1967 and his PhD in 1972.In 1971 he came to ASU, where he taught until his retirement in 2010 and was highly valued as a colleague and frequently selected member of committees.  

Professor Smith taught various classes in American history but specialized in popular culture over the span of American history. He wrote several articles on a 19th century popular historian and read widely, but he also observed American life. He once listed his part-time and summer jobs as “moving man, landscape gardener, bookseller, Santa Claus, factory work, painter, truck and bus driver, waiter, bartender and varied other positions some of which have helped me understand American culture, contemporary America and certainly provide a healthy perspective on academic life in general.” Perhaps his most notable experience was working for several years between-semesters as Santa Claus in the Tri-City Mall in Mesa, Arizona. Well suited for the job because of his size, full beard, and good humor, this experience tested his acting and analytical skills to their fullest extent and provided a fund of stories. His remarkably cluttered office was used as a set in a commercial movie, and Chris was renowned for never using computers, cell phones, or email.A noted bibliophile, Chris assigned numerous and varied books for his classes, frequented book sales in the Valley, and, most importantly, operated his own bookstore, Old Town Books, which attracted ardent customers and was a fixture for many years on Mill Avenue.  

Professor Smith was an outstanding teacher, beloved by undergraduate and graduate students. He won eight teaching awards, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences award (twice), and the Liberal Arts Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, and was nominated on many other occasions. In recognition of this record, the ASU chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society, named their teaching award for him, noting that “he has left an indelible imprint on generations of students.” His love of teaching extended beyond the classroom, and he served for a number of years as a program evaluator for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Reader for the Advanced Placement Service, and a presenter at College Board workshops. He was also active in promoting an interest in history within Arizona, serving in the Arizona Consortium of Humanists in the 1980s and for many years as a lecturer with the Arizona Humanities Council. His lecture/impersonation of various historical figures like LBJ, Ben Franklin, William Mulholland, and John Muir drew great praise from numerous audiences.  

He will be remembered by his wife, Paula Wolfe; his daughter and son-in-law Holly and Greg Johnson, and their children Stephen Johnson and Rowena Luce, Nicholas Johnson and Layla El-Sharkawy, and Joelle Johnson; his daughter and son-in-law Heather and Cousy Maher, and their children Michelle and Joe Van Gombos, Marisa Maher and Oliver Meade, and Meaghan and Carleton Simpson who are the parents of Chris’s great grandchildren Leah and Kent Maher.  

 A Memorial Service will be held at the ASU University Club on March 26 from 2 to 4 pm for family and friends. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to either the Tempe Public Library or the Tempe Historical Society.