R. Eric Smith was the editorial manager for the Publications Division, Church History Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this was written. In that role, he edits print and web publications for the Church Historian’s Press, including publications of the Joseph Smith Papers. He previously was an editor for the church’s Curriculum Department, and before that he practiced law for a Salt Lake City firm. He has given scholarly papers at conferences of the Mormon History Association, Modern Language Association, and Association for Documentary Editing and was a founding board member of the LDS Publishing Professionals Association. He received a BA in English from Brigham Young University and a JD from the University of Utah.