Jeff Smith, Spawn of the Spawn of the Spawn of Soapy.

OK, I’ll admit I’d never heard of Old West badman Soapy Smith. My first reaction was, Wasn’t that an old comic strip character? But no, I was thinking of Snuffy Smith. And there was once a strip called Soapy, drawn by Joe Musial, who sometimes ghosted Snuffy. But Jeff Smith’s Soapy was a real guy, a fascinating character, and Jeff’s great- grandfather to boot. Jeff’s book Alias Soapy Smith, The Life and Death of a Scoundrel is due out this month, and Jeff has done a truly incredible job of promoting it. He has an extensive Soapy website and a cool blog loaded with photos and factoids from Soapy’s life and times. All writers could learn from this. His efforts certainly worked on me. I look forward to the book. Thanks for joining us, Jeff!