Elizabeth Smart

Elizabeth Smart was a Canadian poet and novelist, best known for her 1945 novel "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept." The work, inspired by her tumultuous love affair with poet George Barker, is considered a masterpiece of poetic prose. Smart was born in Ottawa, Canada, to a prominent family and was educated at private schools. She moved to London, where she met Barker and had four children with him, supporting them through journalism and advertising work. Her journals and other writings were published posthumously. She died in London in 1986.