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Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1958, Sandy Smith has spent half his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has pursued a writing career focused on public relations and marketing, with the occasional essay on the side.

He is currently employed full-time as Senior Marketing Writer in the Wholesale Distribution Group of Activant Solutions Inc., a business software company, at the division headquarters in Yardley, Pa. Prior to joining Activant, he spent nearly two decades in academe, working at the University of Pennsylvania from 1985 to 2004 and Widener University from 2006 to 2007. His career in academic public relations began when he joined Penn's Office of University Communications in 1991.

At Penn, Smith was part of the team that launched the Penn Current, the University's newspaper for faculty and staff, in 1998, serving as its associate editor from 1998 to 1999 and its managing editor from 1999 to 2004. During his years with the Current, the publication won six awards for excellence from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, including international CASE Circle of Excellence Gold Awards for Internal Audience Tabloids and Periodical Staff Writing. Before joining the Current, and at Widener, he was a public relations officer, responsible for external media relations, story and Op-Ed placements, and writing and reporting for internal university publications.

At Activant, Smith produces the company's customer newsletter, Activant Insights, press releases, marketing materials and sales aids.

Smith is also a published freelance writer whose articles and essays have appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia CityPaper, Philadelphia Gay News, and on the City Mayors Web site, among other publications, and does freelance marketing and communications projects for private clients.

Smith also sings second tenor in the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, which he joined in 2005, and has served on its board as Vice President of Marketing since September 2007. He holds a B.A. in Government from Harvard University and lives in the Washington Square West neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia.