Abstract
As has been the case with many authors and scholars, Lillian Smith entered my life serendipitously, by way of a book held in my mother’s outstretched hand. She and I were discussing banned books, and she had excused herself and returned with an old hardcover book. “Here’s one of my favorite banned books, one you may not be familiar with,” she said as she handed me a copy of Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith (1897–1966). First published in 1944,Strange Fruitsold more than 2 million copies that year, catapulting Smith onto the national literary scene.Strange Fruittells