return to author mark lindquist menuBy Moria Macdonald
Seattle Times movie critic
Chris Smith, a screenwriter and teacher who died last week of complications from stomach cancer, inspired big dreams in his students. One of them, a young security guard named Antwone Fisher, dreamed of seeing his life story on the big screen — and, with Mr. Smith's help, he did.
A Seattle native and graduate of Nathan Hale High School, Mr. Smith was a working Los Angeles screenwriter who volunteered to teach a screenwriting class at Bethel AME Church in the South Central area in the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. riots. Fisher, a survivor of a troubled childhood, was one of his early students.
Having made peace with his past, Fisher was determined to tell his story. Mr. Smith helped him tell it: introducing Fisher to the right people, working with him as the screenplay developed, and ultimately serving as co-producer of the 2002 film "Antwone Fisher" directed by Denzel Washington.
"When I went to see Chris," Fisher said in 2003, "it was the beginning of a whole new life."
After "Antwone Fisher," Mr. Smith's career changed as well. He recently finished a doctoral program at UCLA in education and had just begun a new business, 360 Professional Development. His sister, Shannon Smith, described the business as a series of DVDs aimed at helping teachers improve their classroom skills. School districts in several states, she said, are already using his products.
Mr. Smith, 46, died Thursday (April 20) in San Diego. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hollywood Presbyterian Church.
He is survived by his wife, Janet, and children Gleeson, Isaac and Stella, all of the Los Angeles area; his mother, Pat Smith of Seattle; and siblings Sally Mathewson of Tacoma, Tim Smith of Glendale, Calif., and Shannon Smith of Santa Clarita, Calif. His father, longtime Seattle Times editor Lane Smith, died in 1998.
"It was really an amazing experience teaching there," Mr. Smith said in 2003, remembering the classes in the South Central church. "It really changed my life, the power of education and helping people."