Editing E. E. Smith (section)

==Biography==

===Family and education===
Edward Elmer Smith was born in [[Sheboygan, Wisconsin]], on May 2, 1890, to Fred Jay Smith and Caroline Mills Smith, both staunch [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] of British ancestry.<ref>Moskowitz p. 11. For this and all following dates, see also the timelines in Lucchetti pp. 31–35 and 113–47 and, to a lesser extent, Sanders pp. 1–2.</ref> His mother was a teacher born in Michigan in February 1855; his father was a sailor, born in [[Maine]] in January 1855 to an English father.<ref name="census1900">1900 Census, House 1515, Residence 438, Family 371, 3rd Ward of Spokane County, Washington, recorded June 13, 1900, accessed via online census images at heritagequest.com</ref> They moved to [[Spokane, Washington]], the winter after Edward Elmer was born,<ref>Sanders p. 1 & 7. Trestrail p. 2 instead says that the family moved that year to Idaho, but Moskowitz p. 11–12 and Eshbach p. 85 both seem to agree with Sanders.</ref> where Mr. Smith was working as a contractor in 1900.<ref name = "census1900"/> In 1902, the family moved to Seneaquoteen,<ref name="sanders1">Sanders p. 1.</ref> near the [[Pend Oreille River]], in [[Kootenai County]], Idaho.<ref>Moskowitz p. 11–12.</ref> He had four siblings, Rachel M. born September 1882, Daniel M. born January 1884, Mary Elizabeth born February 1886 (all of whom were born in Michigan), and Walter E. born July 1891 in [[Washington (state)|Washington]].<ref name="census1900" /> In 1910, Fred and Caroline Smith and their son Walter were living in the Markham Precinct of [[Bonner County, Idaho]]; Fred is listed in census records as a farmer.<ref>1910 Census, Residence 37, Family 37, Markham Precinct, Bonner County, Idaho, recorded April 25, 1910, accessed via heritagequest.com.</ref>

Smith worked mainly as a manual laborer until he injured his wrist while fleeing from a fire at the age of 19. He attended the [[University of Idaho]]. (Many years later he would be installed in the 1984 Class of the University of Idaho Alumni Hall of Fame.<ref>Letter from Flip Kleffner, Director of Alumni Relations, University of Idaho Alumni Association, to Verna Smith Trestrail, dated February 27, 1984.</ref>) He entered its [[College-preparatory school|prep school]] in 1907, and graduated with two degrees in [[chemical engineering]] in 1914.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Edward E.|title=The People Who Make Other Worlds, No. 11: Edward E. Smith|url=https://archive.org/details/Other_Worlds_27v05n03_1953-03/page/n1/mode/2up|journal=Other Worlds|date=March 1953 |volume=5|issue=3|pages=1, 159}}</ref> He was president of the Chemistry Club, the Chess Club, and the Mandolin and Guitar Club, and captain of the Drill and Rifle Team; he also sang the bass lead in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operettas.<ref>Sanders p. 8</ref> His undergraduate thesis was ''Some Clays of Idaho'', co-written with classmate Chester Fowler Smith, who died in California of [[tuberculosis]] the following year, after taking a teaching fellowship at Berkeley.<ref>[[Latah County, Idaho]] [http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=17836 Star-Mirror, March 25, 1915] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504002912/http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=17836 |date=May 4, 2008 }}.</ref> Whether the two were related is not known.

On October 5, 1915, in [[Boise, Idaho]]<ref>[http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/westernStatesRecordDetail.cfm?recordID=84846 Western States Marriage Index Entry 84846] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202902/http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/westernStates/westernStatesRecordDetail.cfm?recordID=84846 |date=September 27, 2007 }}, accessed April 5, 2007</ref> he married Jeanne Craig MacDougall, the sister of his college roommate, Allen Scott (Scotty) MacDougall.<ref>Trestrail pp. 3 & 4, Sanders p. 8, Moskowitz p. 13. Trestrail spells the name "Allen."</ref> (Her sister was named Clarissa MacLean MacDougall; the heroine of the ''Lensman'' novels would later be named Clarrissa MacDougall.) Jeanne MacDougall was born in [[Glasgow]], Scotland; her parents were Donald Scott MacDougall, a violinist, and Jessica Craig MacLean. Her father had moved to Boise when the children were young, and later sent for his family; he died while they were en route in 1905. Jeanne's mother, who remarried businessman and retired politician John F. Kessler in 1914<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hawley |first=James Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-t8UAAAAYAAJ |title=History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains |date=1920 |publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Company |language=en}}</ref> worked at, and later owned, a boarding house on Ridenbaugh Street.

The Smiths had three children. Roderick N., born June 3, 1918, in the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]], was employed as a design engineer at [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] Aircraft. Verna Jean (later Verna Smith Trestrail), born August 25, 1920, in Michigan, was E. E. Smith's literary executor until her death in 1994. (Her son Kim Trestrail is now the executor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethanfleischer.com/lensman/smithexhibit.htm|title=Z9M9Z - A Lensman Website - Noreascon 4, E. E. "Doc" Smith Exhibit|website=www.ethanfleischer.com}}</ref>) [[Robert A. Heinlein]] in part dedicated his 1982 novel ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]'' to Verna.<ref>{{cite book | author=Heinlein, Robert A. | title=Friday| publisher=New England Library | year=1984 | isbn=0-450-05549-3}}</ref> Clarissa M. (later Clarissa Wilcox), was born December 13, 1921, in Michigan.<ref>Lucchetti p. 32, Warner, Moskowitz p. 22.</ref>

===Early chemical career and the beginning of ''Skylark''===
[[File:Amazbuck.jpg|thumb|A scene from the first installment of '' The Skylark of Space'', August 1928]]
After college, Smith was a junior [[chemist]] for the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology|National Bureau of Standards]] in Washington, D.C., developing standards for butter and for oysters,<ref name = "mosk13">Moskowitz p. 13.</ref> while studying food chemistry at George Washington University.<ref name=":0"/>  During World War I, he "wanted to fly a [[Curtiss JN Jenny|Jenny]] biplane, but chemists were too scarce. (Or were Jennies too valuable?)"<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tedric, by E. E. SMITH, Ph. D. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49651/49651-h/49651-h.htm |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> He ended up being sent to the [[Commission for Relief in Belgium]] headed by Herbert Hoover.<ref name=":0"/> His draft card, partly illegible, seems to show that Smith requested [[Conscription in the United States#World War I|exemption from military service]], based on his wife's dependence and on his contribution to the war effort as a civilian chemist.<ref>Draft card (partly illegible). June 5, 1917. Retrieved from Ancestry.com July 2007.</ref>{{Original research inline|date=January 2023}}

One evening in 1915, the Smiths were visiting a former classmate from the [[University of Idaho]], Dr. Carl Garby (1890–1928)<ref>Proceedings of the American Chemical Society 1928 "Deceased Members"</ref> who had also moved to Washington, D.C. He lived nearby in the Seaton Place Apartments with his wife, [[Lee Hawkins Garby]]. A long discussion about journeys into outer space ensued, and it was suggested that Smith should write down his ideas and speculations as a story about interstellar travel. Although he was interested, Smith believed after some thought that some [[romantic fiction|romantic]] elements would be required and he was uncomfortable with that.

Lee Garby offered to take care of the love interest and the romantic dialogue, and Smith decided to give it a try. The sources of inspirations for the main characters in the novel were themselves; the "Seatons" and "Cranes" were based on the Smiths and Garbys, respectively.<ref>Sanders pp. 8–9, Moskowitz p. 14.</ref> About one third of ''[[The Skylark of Space]]'' was completed by the end of 1916, when Smith and Garby gradually abandoned work on it.

Smith earned his master's degree in chemistry from the [[George Washington University]] in 1917, studying under Dr. [[Charles Edward Munroe|Charles E. Munroe]],<ref name = "sanders1"/><ref name="wt640406"/><ref>"Doughnut Specialist Smith" says that his M.S. degree was from [[Harvard University]] and [[Johns Hopkins University]], which is not consistent with other sources.</ref> whom Smith called "probably the greatest high-explosives man yet to live".<ref name=":0"/> Smith completed his PhD in chemical engineering in 1918, with a food engineering focus.<ref name = "mosk13"/><ref>Sanders, p. 1; Lucchetti, p. 32; Barrett, p. 4, following Sanders.</ref> His dissertation, ''The effect of bleaching with oxides of nitrogen upon the baking quality and commercial value of wheat flour'', was published in 1919.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/29865182 |title=Find in a Library: The effect of bleaching with oxides of nitrogen upon the baking quality and commercial value of wheat flour |access-date=August 12, 2006 |archive-date=March 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301201520/http://worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/29865182 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>''The effect of bleaching with oxides of nitrogen upon the baking quality and commercial value of wheat flour'', PhD thesis, George Washington University, 1919, approximately 100 pp.</ref>

[[File:Amazing stories 193008.jpg|thumb| The serial novel ''Skylark Three'' began as ''[[Amazing Stories]]'' cover story (August 1930)]]
[[File:Amazing stories 193107.jpg|thumb|''Spacehounds of IPC'' was also serialized in ''Amazing Stories''.]]
[[File:Amazing stories 193401.jpg|thumb|''Triplanetary'' was the last of Smith's 1930s novels to be serialized in ''Amazing Stories''; his ''Lensman'' novels were published in ''Astounding Stories''.]]
[[File:Universe science fiction 195403.jpg|thumb|Smith's novelette "Lord Tedric", the cover story in the March 1954 issue of ''[[Universe Science Fiction]]'', was novelized by [[Gordon Eklund]] nearly 25 years later.]]
[[File:Amazing science fiction stories 195903.jpg|thumb|right|Smith's novel ''The Galaxy Primes'' was serialized in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1959.]]
[[File:If 196111.jpg|thumb|right|After [[E. Everett Evans]] died in 1958, Smith completed his unfinished novel, ''Masters of Space''. The novel was serialized in ''[[If (magazine)|If]]''.]]

===Writing ''Skylark''===
In 1919, Smith was hired as chief chemist for F. W. Stock & Sons of [[Hillsdale, Michigan]], at one time the largest family-owned mill east of the Mississippi,<ref>[http://www.hillsdalecounty.info/history0118.asp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416144752/http://hillsdalecounty.info/history0118.asp|date=April 16, 2007}}. Retrieved April 5, 2007.</ref> working on doughnut mixes.<ref name="sanders1"/>

One evening late in 1919, after moving to Michigan, Smith was looking after his child (presumably Roderick) while his wife attended a movie.  He resumed work on ''The Skylark of Space'', finishing it in the spring of 1920.<ref>Sanders, p. 1; Moskowitz, p. 14. <br>Warner says 1921.</ref><ref>"Doughnut Specialist Smith" says "It wasn't until 1919 that work really began&nbsp;... Five years passed before acceptance by the first science-fiction magazine on the American market, and two more years elapsed before it was published."  This is not consistent with other sources.</ref> He submitted it to many book publishers and magazines, spending more in postage than he would eventually receive for its publication. Bob Davis, editor of ''[[Argosy (magazine)|Argosy]]'', sent an encouraging rejection letter in 1922, saying that he liked the novel personally, but that it was too far out for his readers.<ref>Sanders, p. 9; Moskowitz, p. 15.</ref>  Finally, upon seeing the April 1927 issue of ''[[Amazing Stories]]'', he submitted it to that magazine.  It was accepted, initially for $75, later raised to $125.<ref>Sanders, pp. 1, 9; Moskowitz, p. 15. Both sources say that [[T. O'Conor Sloane]] was the editor who accepted it, but Sloane's Wikipedia biography states that he was managing editor for the first issue of [[Amazing Stories]] and associate editor until 1929, when he became editor, replacing [[Hugo Gernsback]] [Sloane's associate editorial duties included accepting material for publication with the final say in the matter from Gernsback].</ref> It was published as a three-part serial in the August to October 1928 issues<ref name=isfdb/> and it was such a success that associate editor Sloane requested a sequel before the second installment had been published.<ref>Moskowitz, p. 15.</ref> (According to Warner, but no other source, Smith began work on the sequel, ''Skylark Three'', before the first book was accepted.<ref name= Warner>[http://fanac.org/fanzines/Spaceways/Spaceways01-07.htmlHarry Warner, "Edward E. Smith — A Biography"]{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>)

Garby, whose husband died in 1928, was not interested in further collaboration, so Smith began work on ''Skylark Three'' alone.<ref>Moskowitz, p. 15.</ref> It was published as another three-part serial, in the August to October 1930 issues of ''Amazing'', introduced as the cover story for August.<ref name=isfdb/>  This was as far as he had planned to take the ''Skylark'' series.  It was praised in ''Amazing''{{'}}s letter column,<ref>For example, [http://pobox.com/~flash/SF/Scans/Doc_Smith/Letters/John_Campbell_on_Skylark_3,Amazing_9-30_p567-8/ one letter]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} from [[John W. Campbell]] on pages 567–68 of the September issue ends by stating that ''Skylark of Space'' had been "the best story of scientifiction ever printed"—although most of the letter was devastating criticism of the science in the story.</ref> and he was paid ¾¢ per word, surpassing ''Amazing''{{'}}s previous record of half a cent.<ref name="mosk16">Moskowitz p. 16</ref>

===Names Used for Publications===
The original magazine stories mostly have his name as ''Edward E. Smith, Ph.D.''.  But more recent editions usually give his name as either ''E. E. Doc Smith'' or ''E. E. "Doc" Smith''.<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lensman-Super-Pack-Doc-Smith-ebook/dp/B0C6XS4SLJ/ Typical modern publication of the works of E. E. Smith]</ref>

===The early 1930s: between ''Skylark'' and ''Lensman''===
Smith then began work on what he intended as a new series, starting with ''[[Spacehounds of IPC]],''<ref>Moskowitz p. 16, Sanders p. 65.</ref> which he finished in the autumn of 1930.<ref name = "warner"/> In this novel, he took pains to avoid the scientific impossibilities which had bothered some readers of the ''Skylark'' novels.<ref>Sanders p. 65. The book does, however, have significant scientific implausibilities, for example the breathable atmosphere on Saturn and some of Jupiter and its satellites.</ref> Even in 1938, after he had written ''Galactic Patrol'', Smith considered it his finest work.<ref name = "warner"/> He later said of it, "This was really scientific fiction; not, like the Skylarks, pseudo-science".<ref>Sheridan p. 3</ref> Even at the end of his career, he considered it his only work of true science fiction.<ref>Rogers p. 26.</ref> It was published in the July through September 1931 issues of ''Amazing,'' with [[T. O'Conor Sloane|Sloane]] making unauthorized changes.<ref>Moskowitz p. 16, Rogers p. 14.</ref> Fan letters in the magazine complained about the novel's containment within the [[Solar System]], and Sloane sided with the readers. So when [[Harry Bates (author)|Harry Bates]], editor of ''[[Astounding Stories]]'', offered Smith 2¢/word—payable on publication—for his next story, he agreed. This meant that it could not be a sequel to ''Spacehounds.''<ref name="mosk16"/>

This book would be ''[[Triplanetary (novel)|Triplanetary]]'', "in which scientific detail would not be bothered about, and in which his imagination would run riot."<ref name="warner">Warner.</ref> Indeed, characters within the story point out its psychological<ref>Lyman Cleveland's comment on the easy availability of "solid asteroids of iron", ''Amazing'' March 1934, p. 16, first edition p.196, as proving the pointlessness of the Nevians' attack.</ref> and scientific<ref>Cleveland's expectation, correct according to [[special relativity]], that inertialess travel would not be faster than light in the home [[Frame of reference|reference frame]], p. 223.</ref> implausibilities, and sometimes even seem to suggest self-parody.<ref>Nerado's comment, "Destruction, always destruction ... they are a useless race", February p. 81, p. 160.</ref> At other times, they are conspicuously silent about obvious implausibilities.<ref>Costigan & Bradley's lack of comment when they discover that the ship they are on has passed the speed of light, February p. 84, p. 168. This is the first mention in the story of [[faster-than-light]] travel.</ref><ref>Costigan & Bradley's failure to object, when told of the Nevians' impending second raid on Tellus (Earth), that they could easily obtain iron without further destruction, February p. 88, p. 175.</ref> The January 1933 issue of ''Astounding'' announced that ''Triplanetary'' would appear in the March issue, and that issue's cover illustrated a scene from the story, but ''Astounding''{{'}}s financial difficulties prevented the story from appearing.<ref>Moskowitz p. 17, Rogers p. 14.</ref> Smith then submitted the manuscript to ''[[Wonder Stories]]'', whose new editor, 17-year-old [[Charles Hornig|Charles D. Hornig]], rejected it, later boasting about the rejection in a [[fanzine]].<ref>Moskowitz p. 17, citing "Stories We Reject" in ''[http://fanac.org/fanzines/Fantasy_Magazine/ Fantasy Magazine]'' December 1934.</ref> He finally submitted it to ''Amazing'', which published it beginning in January 1934, but for only half a cent a word. Shortly after it was accepted, [[F. Orlin Tremaine]], the new editor of the revived ''Astounding'', offered one cent a word for ''Triplanetary''. When he learned that he was too late, he suggested a third ''Skylark'' novel instead.<ref>Moskowitz p. 17</ref>

In the winter of 1933–34, Smith worked on ''The Skylark of Valeron'', but he felt that the story was getting out of control.  He sent his first draft to Tremaine, with a distraught note asking for suggestions. Tremaine accepted the rough draft for $850, and announced it in the June 1934 issue, with a full-page editorial and a three-quarter-page advertisement. The novel was published in the August 1934 through February 1935 issues.<ref name=isfdb/> [[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|''Astounding'']]'s circulation rose by 10,000 for the first issue, and its two main competitors, ''[[Amazing Stories|Amazing]]'' and ''[[Wonder Stories]]'', fell into financial difficulties, both skipping issues within a year.<ref>Moskowitz p. 17–8, Rogers pp. 24–30. Rogers agrees with Moskowitz that ''Astounding'' became the leading science-fiction magazine during this period, but does not attribute this solely to Smith.</ref>

===The ''Lensman'' series===

In January 1936, a time period where he was already an established science-fiction writer, he took a job for salary plus profit-sharing, as production manager at [[Dawn Foods|Dawn Donut Co.]] of [[Jackson, Michigan]].<ref name=":0"/><ref>Moskowitz p. 19, Warner.</ref> This initially entailed almost a year's worth of 18-hour days and seven-day workweeks. Individuals who knew Smith confirmed that he had a role in developing mixes for doughnuts and other pastries, but the contention that he developed the first process for making powdered sugar adhere to doughnuts cannot be substantiated.<ref>The earliest web source for this claim seems to be [http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,2099814,00.htm Computer games: 40 years of fun, ZDNet UK, November 23, 2001] by Graeme Wearden. The article does not provide a source.</ref> Smith was reportedly dislocated from his job at Dawn Donuts by prewar rationing in early 1940.<ref name="dict">The Dictionary of Literary Biography,{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}} quoted at http://www.bookrags.com/Edward_Elgar accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>

Smith had been contemplating writing a "space-police novel" since early 1927;<ref>"The Epic of Space" p. 83.</ref> once he had "the Lensmen's universe fairly well set up", he reviewed his science-fiction collection for "cops-and-robbers" stories. He cites Clinton Constantinescue's "War of the Universe" as a negative example, and [[Roman Frederick Starzl|Starzl]] and [[Jack Williamson|Williamson]] as positive ones.<ref>"The Epic of Space" p. 84. 'Canstantinescu's "War of the Universes"' is apparently an error for "The War of the Universe" by Clinton Constantinescu, ''Amazing Stories Quarterly'', Fall 1931.</ref> Tremaine responded extremely positively to a brief description of the idea.<ref name = "epic85"/>

Once Dawn Donuts became profitable in late 1936, Smith wrote an 85-page outline for what became the four core ''[[Lensman]]'' novels.  In early 1937, Tremaine committed to buying them.<ref>Gharlane [http://www.outel.org/decomposed/goe/LFQ1.htm LensFaq section 1]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Moskowitz p. 19, "The Epic of Space" p. 85. Smith's account in "The Epic of Space" does not mention Tremaine's commitment. Moskowitz says that the outline was 80 pages. Smith only mentions that the section on ''[[Galactic Patrol]]'' was "only a few pages long."</ref> Segmenting the story into four novels required considerable effort to avoid dangling loose ends. Smith cited [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] as a negative example.<ref name="epic85">"The Epic of Space" p. 85.</ref> After the outline was complete, he wrote a more detailed outline of ''[[Galactic Patrol]]'', plus a detailed graph of its structure, with "peaks of emotional intensity and the valleys of characterization and background material." He notes, however, that he was never able to follow any of his outlines at all closely, as the "characters get away from me and do exactly as they damn please."<ref>"The Epic of Space" p. 86.</ref> After completing the rough draft of ''Galactic Patrol'', he wrote the concluding chapter of the last book in the series, ''[[Children of the Lens]].''<ref name = "mosk19"/> ''Galactic Patrol'' was published in the September 1937 through February 1938 issues of ''Astounding''. Unlike the revised book edition, it was not set in the same universe as ''Triplanetary''.<ref>The Commandant's account of the Patrol's early history at the beginning of the magazine version of ''Galactic Patrol'' does not describe what happened in the magazine version of ''Triplanetary''. The reference to Virgil Samms and the Triplanetary Patrol is a later interpolation. (''Astounding'' September 1937 pp. 12–13; cp. [[Fantasy Press]] edition pp. 8–9.) The reference to "the days of the semi-inert drive" and the Third Galactic Survey on page 34 of the same issue is not consistent with the history of partial inertialessness in either version of ''Triplanetary'', and is omitted from page 42 of the [[Fantasy Press]] edition. (''[[Amazing Stories|Amazing]]'' March 1934 pp. 28 & 33; cp. Fantasy Press edition pp. 223 & 231.) See also Gharlane's Lens FAQ Question 1. The Arisians' near-omniscience about the future is also interpolated, e.g., ''Astounding'' January 1938 p. 127 vs. first edition p. 205.</ref>

''[[Gray Lensman]]'', the fourth book in the series, appeared in ''Astounding''{{'}}s October 1939 through January 1940 issues.  ''Gray Lensman''  was extremely well received, as was its cover illustration.<ref>[http://www.ethanfleischer.com/lensman/gallery_gl.htm Z9M9Z – A Lensman Website – Gallery.]</ref> [[John W. Campbell|Campbell]]'s editorial in the December issue suggested that the October issue was the best issue of ''Astounding'' ever, and ''Gray Lensman'' was first place in the Analytical Laboratory statistics "by a lightyear", with three runners-up in a distant tie for second place.<ref>''Astounding'' December 1939 pp. 6, 91.</ref> The cover was also praised by readers in ''Brass Tacks'', and Campbell noted, "We got a letter from E. E. Smith saying he and [cover artist] Hubert Rogers agreed on how Kinnison looked."<ref>''Astounding'' December 1939 pp. 104.</ref>

Smith was the guest of honor at [[Chicon I]], the second [[World Science Fiction Convention]], held in Chicago over [[Labor Day Weekend|Labor Day weekend]] 1940,<ref>Sanders p. 10, Moskowitz p. 12.</ref> giving a speech on the importance of [[science fiction fandom]] entitled "What Does This Convention Mean?"<ref>Resnick & Siclari.</ref> He attended the [[Worldcon#Worldcon activities|convention's masquerade]] as [[C. L. Moore]]'s [[Northwest Smith]], and met fans living near him in Michigan, who would later form the Galactic Roamers, which previewed and advised him on his future work.<ref>Sanders p. 10, afterword to ''[[Second Stage Lensmen]]''.</ref>

After [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]], Smith discovered he "was one year over age for reinstatement" into the US Army. Instead he worked on high explosives at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in [[La Porte, Indiana|La Port]], Indiana, at first as a chemical engineer, but gradually worked his way up to chief. In late 1943 he became head of the Inspection Division, and was fired in early 1944.<ref name=":0"/>

Smith spent the next few years working on "light farm machinery and heavy tanks for [[Allis-Chalmers]]," after which he was hired as manager of the Cereal Mix Division of J. W. Allen & Co.,<ref name=":0"/> where he worked until his professional retirement in 1957.<ref name="dict" />

===Retirement and late writing===

After Smith retired, he and his wife lived in [[Clearwater, Florida]] in the fall and winter, driving the smaller of their two trailers to [[Seaside, Oregon]], each April, often stopping at [[science fiction convention]]s on the way.<ref name="wt640406"/> (Smith did not like to fly.<ref>Pohl in Lucchetti p. 15, Al Trestrail in Lucchetti p. 19. Al Trestrail (p. 20) and Pohl (p. 14) also mention church attendance (Pohl in a fictional context), which none of the other sources seem to.</ref>) In 1963, he was presented the inaugural [[First Fandom Hall of Fame award]] at the [[21st World Science Fiction Convention]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="wt640406"/> Some of his biography is captured in an essay by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], which was reprinted in the collection ''Expanded Universe'' in 1980. A more detailed, although allegedly<ref>[[Gharlane of Eddore (Pen-name)|Gharlane of Eddore]], [http://www.chronology.org/noframes/lens/ Lensman FAQ], under "References."</ref> error-ridden biography is in Sam Moskowitz's ''Seekers of Tomorrow.''

Robert Heinlein and Smith were friends. (Heinlein dedicated his 1958 novel ''[[Methuselah's Children]]'' "To Edward E. Smith, PhD".<ref>{{cite book | author=Heinlein, Robert A | title=Methuselah's Children | publisher=Baen Publishing Enterprises | year=1986 | isbn=0-671-65597-3}}</ref>) Heinlein reported that E. E. Smith perhaps took his "unrealistic" heroes from life, citing as an example the extreme competence of the hero of ''[[Spacehounds of IPC]]''. He reported that E. E. Smith was a large, blond, athletic, very intelligent, very gallant man, married to a remarkably beautiful, intelligent, red-haired woman named MacDougal (thus perhaps the prototypes of 'Kimball Kinnison' and 'Clarissa MacDougal'). In Heinlein's essay, he reports that he began to suspect Smith might be a sort of "superman" when he asked Smith for help in purchasing a car. Smith tested the car by driving it on a back road at illegally high speeds with their heads pressed tightly against the roof columns to listen for chassis squeaks by [[bone conduction]]—a process apparently improvised on the spot.

In his nonseries novels written after his professional retirement, ''Galaxy Primes'', ''Subspace Explorers'', and ''Subspace Encounter'', E. E. Smith explores themes of telepathy and other mental abilities collectively called "psionics", and of the conflict between [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] and socialistic/communistic influences in the colonization of other planets. ''Galaxy Primes'' was written after critics such as [[Groff Conklin]] and [[P. Schuyler Miller]] in the early '50s accused his fiction of being passé, and he made an attempt to do something more in line with the concepts about which ''Astounding'' editor John W. Campbell encouraged his writers to make stories. Despite this, it was rejected by Campbell, and it was eventually published by ''Amazing Stories'' in 1959. His late story "The Imperial Stars" (1964), featuring a troupe of circus performers involved in sabotage in a galactic empire, recaptured some of the atmosphere from his earlier works and was intended as the first in a new series, with outlines of later parts rumored to still exist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://port70.net/cgi/httpgate.rss.cgi?9text/books/By%20Author/smith%2C%20edward%20elmer/Smith%2C%20E.%20E.%20Doc%20-%20Best%20of%20EE%20Doc%20Smith.pdf|title=The Best of E.E. "Doc" Smith. Classic Adventures in Space By One of SF's Great Originals}}</ref> In fact, the Imperial Stars characters and concepts were continued by author [[Stephen Goldin]] as the "[[Family D'Alembert]] series". While the book covers indicate the series was written by Smith and Goldin together, Goldin only ever had Smith's original novella to expand upon.

The fourth ''Skylark'' novel, ''[[Skylark DuQuesne]]'', ran in the June to October 1965 issues of ''If'', beginning once again as the cover story. Editor [[Frederik Pohl]] introduced it with a one-page summary of the previous stories, which were all at least 30 years old.<ref name=isfdb/>

===Lord Tedric===

Smith published two novelettes entitled "Tedric" in ''Other Worlds Science Fiction Stories'' (1953) and "Lord Tedric" in ''Universe Science Fiction'' (1954). These were almost completely forgotten until after Smith's death. In 1975, a compendium of Smith's works was published, entitled ''The Best of E. E. "Doc" Smith'', containing these two short stories, excerpts from several of his major works, and another short story first published in ''Worlds of If'' in 1964 entitled "The Imperial Stars".

In Smith's original short stories, Tedric was a smith (both [[blacksmith]] and [[whitesmith]]) residing in a small town near a castle in a situation roughly equivalent to [[History of England#England under the Plantagenets|England of the 1200s]]. He received instruction in advanced metallurgy from a [[time-travel]]er who wanted to change the situation in his own time by modifying certain events of the past. From this instruction, he was able to build better suits of armor and help defeat the villains of the piece. Unlike Eklund's later novels based on these short stories, the original Tedric never left his own time or planet, and fought purely local enemies of his own time period.

A few years later and 13 years after Smith's death, Verna Smith arranged with [[Gordon Eklund]] to publish another novel of the same name about the same fictional character, introducing it as "a new series conceived by E. E. 'Doc' Smith". Eklund later went on to publish the other novels in the series, one or two under the pseudonym "E. E. 'Doc' Smith" or "E. E. Smith". The protagonist possesses heroic qualities similar to those of the heroes in Smith's original novels and can communicate with an extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Scientists, whose archenemy is Fra Villion, a mysterious character described as a dark knight, skilled in whip-sword combat, and evil genius behind the creation of a planetoid-sized "iron sphere" armed with a weapon capable of destroying planets. As a result, Smith is believed by many to be the unacknowledged progenitor of themes that would appear in ''[[Star Wars]]''. In fact, however, these appear in the sequels written by others after Smith's death.