James Richard Smart

James Smart October 27, 1946 – November 22, 2025 After living all over the world, James spent his last 18 years in La Puebla. James was involved with the beginning of the Espanola Farmers' Market, served as secretary and vice president of the Cuatro Villas MDWUA, and volunteered at the Espanola Library Bookstore. He is survived by his wife Leigh Alexander, and his seven siblings and his extensive family. Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. James attended Cameron University in Lawton, OK., Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and Graduate School at the University of Gothenberg in Sweden, where he studied anthropology, and archaeology. James lived and taught in Morocco in 1970, lived in Honolulu, Boston, and Vermont and worked as a copy editor in New York, 1989-1992. James then continued his career working with non-profits and community organizations In Charleston, SC and New Mexico. He met his future life partner Leigh Alexander at a poetry reading in Burlington, Vermont in 1988. They lived in New York, Thailand, and South Carolina before moving to La Puebla, New Mexico in 2007. He loved to travel and enjoyed getting lost. James loved painting, playing with mud, working with dirt growing things, and was an insatiable reader. James lived well, and died peacefully in his sleep on November 22, 2025.