From Mission to Madness: LAST SON OF THE MORMON PROPHET

      Brilliant and charismatic,         David Hyrum Smith was a poet, painter, singer, philosopher, naturalist,         and highly effective missionary for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ         of Latter Day Saints. In this richly detailed biography, Valeen Tippetts         Avery chronicles the life of the last son of Joseph Smith and his first         wife, Emma.       Avery draws on a large body         of correspondence for details of David's life and on his poetry to reveal         his personality and emotional struggles. She tells of his mental deterioration,         starting with a probable breakdown early in 1870 and ending with his death         in 1904 in the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane in         Elgin, where he had been confined for twenty-seven years.       "This is an astonishing         accomplishment which not only tells the reader about a neglected historical         figure, but about myriad neglected dimensions of both Mormon history and         the history of religion in general."         -- Jan Shipps, author of Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious         Tradition       "This will stand alone         as a biography of David H. Smith. . . . But it is also an insightful look         at the times and environment from which the Smith family, and its ideas,         emerged."         -- Paul M. Edwards, author of Our Legacy of Faith: A Brief History         of the Reorganized Church