Smiling at Strangers: How One Introvert Discovered the Power of Being Kind

The seed that became Smiling at Strangers was planted in 1955, when its author, Nancy Lewis, received a surprise award for Excellence in English at the Senior Awards Ceremony of her high school in New London, Connecticut. Nancy remembers telling her mother the next morning, "Someday I'm going to write a book. But first I have to get some life experience." Six decades of life experience later, at the age of 80, she began to write that book. The intervening "experience" has included marriage to a life partner, two sons, five grandchildren, college and university degrees, employment as an English teacher, librarian, and freelance editor, and residence in six states plus British Columbia. She currently lives with her husband Richard in Bellingham, Washington, where she continues to look for opportunities to offer smiles and small kindnesses to strangers.