Bob Smith was born in Buffalo, New York on December 24, 1958. He was a comedian and writer. He was the first openly gay male comedian to star in his own special on HBO, which aired in 1994, and to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He also appeared on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and MTV's Wisecrack. He wrote several collections of essays including Openly Bob, which won the LAMBDA Book Award for humor; Way to Go, Smith; and Treehab: Tales from My Natural Wild Life. He also wrote novels including Selfish and Perverse and Remembrance of Things I Forgot. As a television writer, he wrote for The MTV Video Music Awards, Dennis Miller, Roseanne, and MADtv. He died from… complications of ALS on January 20, 2018 at the age of 59.