Mallory Smith

Smith was born to Mark Smith and Diane Shader Smith on October 12, 1992 and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a "progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time", at age 3.[1][2][3] The disease cripples by inhibiting oxygen and nutrient absorption required for growth and energy[4] with treatment regimens of more than 60 pills per day and waking up repeatedly for antibiotic IV treatments and lung exercises, yet Smith was determined to live well.[5] She maintained a 4.3 grade point average,[1] was captain of three different team sports, and was elected prom queen.[5]

By age 15, bacteria had colonized Smith's lungs, including a form of Burkholderia cenocepacia which mutated over a decade of antibiotic treatment from a normal vegetable bacteria into rare, aggressive superbug with no known treatment.[6] This allowed her to push for experimental options with bacteriophage treatment, which engineers viruses to destroy bacteria.[6] She attended Stanford University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa,[5][7] majoring in human biology with a concentration in environmental anthropology.[1] She also worked as a senior producer on Green Grid Radio, an environmental podcast featured on KCRW, National Radio Project and State of the Human.[8] After graduation, Smith became a cystic fibrosis advocate and began work as a writer.[7] However, her lungs took a turn for the worse in 2012 and she received a lung transplant on September 11, 2017.[4] Unfortunately the superbug had survived in her throat[7] and she passed away on November 15, 2017 at age 25 before bacteriophage treatment could be successfully administered, but provided lung samples to further the research for other patients.[2]

Smith's determination to live with joy despite her physical prognosis was inspirational to research and the cystic fibrosis community[1][4][6] Smith's outlook is credited as a driving force behind two cystic fibrosis charities. “An Evening in Mallory’s Garden” was started in 1995 and has raised more than $5 million[8] while Lunges4Lungs gained national awareness including corporate support from companies like Lululemon[4] and star support including Katy Perry.[5]

In 2016 she co-authored The Gottlieb Native Garden: A California Love Story with horticulturist Susan Lenman Gottlieb which was published by the National Wildlife Federation,[9]. Her memoir, Salt in My Soul: an Unfinished Life, was posthumously edited and published at her direction by her mother, writer/publicist Diane Shader Smith through Penguin Random House on March 12, 2019.[10][8] It was subsequently optioned for production before its publication by The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground Oscar-nominated directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering.[8]

• The Gottlieb Native Garden: A California Love Story, National Wildlife Federation, First edition October 25, 2016, ISBN 0692783393
• Salt in My Soul: an Unfinished Life, Penguin Random House, Spiegel & Grau, First edition March 12, 2019, ISBN 1984855425