 Smith (1852-1948) was a friend and correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft; "Tryout" was the first outlet for the H. P. Lovecraft short stories "The Cats of Ulthar" (November 1920), "The Terrible Old Man" (July 1921), "The Tree" (October 1921), and "In the Vault" (November 1925).Smith provided the plot idea for "In the Vault".Several later stories include details used from his visits to Haverhill to meet with Smith.