Children's book author Doris Buchanan Smith dies at 68

ATLANTA - An author who wrote 17 books for adolescents -- including the award-winning ``A Taste of Blackberries&#39;&#39; in 1973 -- has died of bone cancer. <br> <br> Doris Buchanan Smith died Thursday. She was 68. <br> <br> Smith, who had four children of her own, also took care of more than 200 foster children -- some for a few days, others for months. She raised one foster child to adulthood. <br> <br> Smith grew up in Atlanta and settled in Brunswick in the early 1960s. A staunch environmentalist, she spent her summers in a cabin she helped build in North Carolina, living without electricity or running water. <br> <br> Her other books included ``Return to Bitter Creek&#39;&#39; and ``A Pennywhistle Tree.&#39;&#39; She won the 1974 Georgia Children&#39;s Book Award and the Children&#39;s Best Book prize in Holland for ``Blackberries&#39;&#39; -- a story about a boy whose best friend dies. <br> <br> Smith lived in Hayesville, North Carolina, and died at the home of her son, Matt Smith, in Jacksonville, Florida. The body was cremated. Memorial service plans have not been announced.

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