Portrait of Joan Smith

Birthday profile

Joan Smith

Joan Smith, English journalist and author

Born
August 27, 1953
Age in 2026
73
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1953

About Joan Smith

Joan Alison Smith is an English journalist and novelist, who is a former chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN and was the Executive Director of Hacked Off. Outside the UK, Smith is probably best known for the Loretta Lawson series of crime novels which were published between 1987 and 1995. Joan Smith was appointed the Executive Director of Hacked Off in late May 2014 in succession to Brian Cathcart.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Joan Smith timeline

  1. Outside the UK, Smith is probably best known for the Loretta Lawson series of crime novels which were published between 1987 and 1995.
  2. Joan Smith was appointed the Executive Director of Hacked Off in late May 2014 in succession to Brian Cathcart.

The world when Joan Smith was born

Joan Smith was born in 1953. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1953

  • #1 song"Doggie in the Window" – Patti Page
  • Top movieFrom Here to Eternity
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookCasino Royale – Ian Fleming

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentEdmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summit Mount Everest
  • Top headlineCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II
  • Technology milestoneWatson and Crick discover the structure of DNA
  • Defining fadTV dinners
  • Notable inventionTV dinner
  • World population2.68 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population159.0M

1953 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Joan Smith's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19532026
Gas$0.29$3.45/gal
Average home$9,500$435,000
Average income$5,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.60$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population159.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.