Harry Allen Smith was born 19 December 1907 in McLeansboro, Illinois, the son of Henry Arthur Smith and the former Adeline Mae Allen. He was the third of nine children. Adeline had planned to name him Henry Allen, but his grandmother had the documents made out in her preferred way: Harry Arthur Smith, Jr. His parents knew nothing of the shenanigans, and called him by the name they thought was his; only later was the subterfuge revealed, and the young Smith opted for Harry Allen—H. Allen as it was later stylized—though he became unsure, thinking it a bit “faggoty.”
His father, at least according to the 1910 census, was in retail bricks, which would seem to mean he sold bricks. He worked on his own accord. The family moved through Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, during his childhood yearsThe family was in Defiance, Indiana, by 1920, where the elder Harry worked as a cigar maker. Around this time, the younger Harry dropped out of high school, eventually finding himself working as a journalist, beginning, it seems, with a job at the Huntington Press in 1922.
Over the next decade, Smith moved frequently, rural journalist job to rural journalist job: Jeffersonville, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Sebring, Florida. He was sometimes editor, sometimes even part owner of the places he worked. In Sebring, he met the society editor Nelle Mae Simpson, and they became engaged. He did bummed around, from job o job, and even spent time compiling city directories, before moving out to Tulsa, Oklahoma, were he and Nelle wed. They had two children. After a short stay there, he and Nelle moved to Denver, where he followed in the footsteps of Gene Fowler.
His father, at least according to the 1910 census, was in retail bricks, which would seem to mean he sold bricks. He worked on his own accord. The family moved through Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, during his childhood yearsThe family was in Defiance, Indiana, by 1920, where the elder Harry worked as a cigar maker. Around this time, the younger Harry dropped out of high school, eventually finding himself working as a journalist, beginning, it seems, with a job at the Huntington Press in 1922.
Over the next decade, Smith moved frequently, rural journalist job to rural journalist job: Jeffersonville, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Sebring, Florida. He was sometimes editor, sometimes even part owner of the places he worked. In Sebring, he met the society editor Nelle Mae Simpson, and they became engaged. He did bummed around, from job o job, and even spent time compiling city directories, before moving out to Tulsa, Oklahoma, were he and Nelle wed. They had two children. After a short stay there, he and Nelle moved to Denver, where he followed in the footsteps of Gene Fowler.