In Memoriam Hugh Blair-Smith 1936-2024
With great sorrow, we announce the August 3 death of Hugh-Blair Smith, a devoted board member and long-time treasurer of the Cape Cod Writers Center.
Hugh was extraordinary, a warm-hearted, humorous man whose curiosity about life was insatiable, as reflected in his long career as a rocket scientist and later as a writer. In 1959 after his graduation from Harvard, Hugh joined the MIT Instrument Laboratory where he worked with other scientists at the Apollo Guidance Computer for lunar missions and where he later laid the groundwork for future advancements in computer science. His recently published “Left Brains for the Right Stuff: Computers, Space and History” captures the essence of his experiences during that remarkable era and the advent of the Space Age. He is survived by his wife, Victoria Blair-Smth, his children Robert M. Blair-Smith II and Caroline Blair-Smith, and his grandchildren Amelia and Adams Blair-Smith.
Hugh was a lively participant at the Cape Cod Writers Center’s events, faithfully led a small writers’ group in Hyannis, and dutifully provided budget reports for the organization’s meetings of the board of directors. Despite his many accomplishments, Hugh remained so modest about his illustrious career that in 2014 when asked if he would serve as the treasurer, he quietly agreed that he was “familiar with numbers.” We shall deeply miss him.