Mary Burnett Smith began writing after she retired from a thirty-eight- year career teaching Philadelphia’s inner city youth. Born in rural Virginia and raised in suburban Philadel...view moreMary Burnett Smith began writing after she retired from a thirty-eight- year career teaching Philadelphia’s inner city youth. Born in rural Virginia and raised in suburban Philadelphia, her first published story won first prize from Ebony Magazine. Smith is the author of two novels, Miss Ophelia and Ring Around the Moon, and lives in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.view less