Iconoclast Publisher’s New Novel Entitled ‘Epitaph’
Epitaph
W. Leon Smith, publisher of The Lone Star Iconoclast, has authored a new novel, Epitaph, which is available at Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions.
W. Leon Smith
Epitaph is an Orwellian type thriller about a minority newspaper man who, along with an elderly farmer/rancher, challenge a military/corporate land grab. This emotional, riveting book is loosely based on actual events, including cave exploration, love interests, cattle mutilations, murder, depleted uranium testing, Comanche Indians, and a unique twist about a man fighting to undo racism. The book culminates in a decision that could change things forever.
The 236-page novel features adventure, romance, and intriguing characters.
The novel was originally penned in 1976 when Smith was 22 years old. It spent about 35 years gathering dust in a box until Smith recently found it, re-read it, and decided that the message was unbelievably accurate befitting today’s world. He had spent several months writing the book and conducted countless interviews involving individuals upon whom the novel was based.
Smith was born in 1953 and has spent most of his life publishing Texas newspapers, including the internationally acclaimed Lone Star Iconoclast which challenged the Bush presidency in a 2004 editorial that was republished throughout the world.
His newspaper also broke ground with up-to-the-minute coverage of Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war stance in 2005 which resulted in publication of the book The Vigil — 26 Days In Crawford, Texas, written by Smith and his staff.
An article by Smith was published in the British Journalism Review after he and his staff were subjected to boycotts and death threats after printing the truth about Bush’s “hidden agenda.”
A former multi-term Texas mayor, Smith was instrumental in solving a murder through a multi-year investigation and is currently attempting to gain pardon for a man who has spent about 25 years in prison “for a crime that I am quite sure he did not commit,” said Smith.
Smith appeared in David Modigliani’s documentary Crawford, Texas.
Smith has more recently been involved in the development of keyhole gardens that he hopes will someday prove useful in feeding the world <www.keyholefarm.com>.
In late August of 2010, Smith, 57, suffered from 73 strokes in a week’s time and was told by doctors that he should be dead. Currently undergoing recovery from the health setback, he anticipates that soon he will be able to renew the Iconoclast’s regular publication schedule which has temporarily been put on hold.
“I hope readers like the novel,” said Smith, who is currently working on four additional books that he hopes to offer to the public soon.
Smith’s great-great-great-great uncle was well-known Texas patriot Erastus (Deaf) Smith, who was General Sam Houston’s most trusted scout and spy during Texas’ fight for independence. Deaf Smith was responsible for destroying Vince’s Bridge in the Battle of San Jacinto, which made impossible a retreat by Santa Anna and resulted in his ultimate defeat. This battle occurred after the fall of the Alamo.
“I am very proud of Texas and its ingrained values, which makes me very angry at the way our current state government trounces on individual rights, taxes just about everything except breathing, and has, because of our governor, become a fascist state,” commented the Iconoclast publisher. “It is amazing how in the last election Gov. Perry pronounced that things are financially great in Texas and now, just a few months later, teachers are being laid off in droves. We have simply got to quit re-electing these horrible idiots.”
Smith lives in Clifton, Texas.
Regarding the book, he can be e-mailed at <wleonsmith@smithmediainc.com> or contacted by phone at (254) 652-9483 (cell).
