Bill Smoot grew up in Maysville, Kentucky. He received his BA from Purdue and his PhD from Northwestern University. While at Purdue, he was editor of the campus newspaper, The Exponent during the turbulent sixties. The university president tried to remove him from office and failed when the campus rose up in protest.
Bill Smoot has taught humanities courses in prep schools and colleges for over forty years, and he currently teaches with Mount Tamalpais College at San Quentin Prison. His short fiction, essays, and journalism pieces have been appeared in such publications as Ninth Letter, The Nation, Crab Orchard Review, Narrative, Georgia Review, and Western Humanities Review. He is the author of Conversations with Great Teachers.