Toren Smith
| Toren Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 12, 1960 Alberta, Canada |
| Died | March 4, 2013 (aged 52) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
|
Notable works
|
The Dirty Pair |
Toren Smith (April 12, 1960 – March 4, 2013) was a manga translator and founder of Studio Proteus.
Smith learned to read by the age of four, and by the age of 12 had won his first award for writing from the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. By thirteen he had sold his first magazine article, an examination of body morphology in deep sea fishes, which included drawings by himself. In 1974 his science fair project in physics with Martin Brock won first place in the Physics category and they moved on to competition in London, where they took an Honorable Mention. Brock also introduced Smith to comics, which would become a lifetime passion. Smith had already been drawing for years, mostly influenced by newspaper strips such as B.C. and Andy Capp, but now he began to look at the work of Jack Kirby and Walt Kelly. Upon entering high school, Smith became interested in what would now be called extreme sports. He participated in caving, motorcycle racing, climbing, and hang gliding—briefly being the youngest licensed hang glider pilot in Canada. Focusing on climbing, he spent time working at the Lac des Arcs climbing school, being among the first in Canada to experiment with ice climbing tools and techniques. Smith was active in the arts while at school, working with the drama club, writing plays, and drawing for pleasure and sale. After graduating from high school, Smith chose not to attend university, and worked a variety of jobs from oilfield roughneck to computer operator. This gave him the time to pursue climbing and motorcycle touring, combining the two into long trips to places like Yosemite, Black Canyon, and Joshua Tree.
In 1980 Smith attended a local science fiction convention and met Lela Dowling, a noted SF and fantasy artist. The two hit it off and after extensive correspondence and meetings, they were married in 1981 (div. 1984), and Smith moved to California. There he became a part of the local SF and comics scene, and began writing comics for Epic Illustrated, Eclipse Comics, Amazing Heroes, and others. This work included a collaboration with SF author James P. Hogan, who was to become a close friend of Smith. Smith was introduced to Japanese anime and manga by James Hudnall in 1982, and in 1986 he sold his possessions and moved to Japan in order to found Studio Proteus, a company that was for more than two decades one of the top two producers of translated manga for the English-speaking world.
...
Wikipedia