J. Eric Smith is a native of South Carolina's Low Country who lived and worked in 13 different states before settling happily with his wife, Marcia, in Northern Arizona's Red Rocks region, where he now hikes and climbs more things than he probably should. Smith is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the Naval Supply Corps School, and the University at Albany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. After serving for eleven years with the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, he transitioned to the civilian sector, working as a fundraising professional, communications director, operations manager, and four-time nonprofit executive director, while also managing numerous contract, consulting, and board roles. Throughout his charitable and government careers, Smith continued to work as a writer, earning more bylines than he could possibly remember for a variety of alternative newsweeklies, trade journals, nonprofit periodicals, magazines, and newspapers. He was also a digital space pioneer, launching the first version of his long-running website in 1995. A large archive of his articles remains available at jericsmith.com, along with new writing on a wide variety of topics.