Smith, Larry (fl. c. 1935 - 1955)

Larry Smith (fl. c. 1935 - 1955), sometimes signing his works as 'Hillbilly Larry' was an artist and illustrator based in Ruidoso, New Mexico. His known works, including pictorial maps, comic strips, and postcards, are generally irreverent and highly stylized, employing characters drawn from Smith's surroundings (especially cowboys and Native Americans). Smith appears to have been a well-known and colorful character in Ruidoso and surrounding towns. He was a friend, mentor, and influence on Bill Mauldin (1921 - 2003), who became famous for his illustrations of Army life during World War II and won two Pulitzer Prizes for his editorial cartoons. The details of Smith's life are difficult to determine, in part because of the commonality of his name and in part because of his itinerant lifestyle, especially during the Depression years, but he appears to have lived in Ruidoso and Alamogordo, New Mexico at different points in his life.