B. Smith, a former TV host, restaurateur and author, died of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease on Saturday night in her home in Long Island, New York. Her husband announced the news in a Facebook post on Sunday morning. She was 70.
“Thank you to Dr. Sam Gandy, East End Hospice and additional caregivers who helped us make B. comfortable in her final days. Thank you to all the friends and fans who supported B. and our family during her journey. Thank you to everyone for respecting our privacy during this agonizing time. Heaven is shining even brighter now that it is graced with B.’s dazzling and unforgettable smile,” her husband, Dan Gasby, wrote.
Smith appeared on two episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and later hosted her own weekly, syndicated show, “B. Smith With Style,” in 1997. The half-hour show aired weekdays on BTN and Bounce TV and featured segments about home decor and cooking. She also had a role in an Off Broadway show, “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” in 2011.
In New York and Washington D.C., she owned several restaurants called “B. Smith.” The first location opened in New York City in 1986, but by 2015, they were all closed down. She also wrote three cookbooks, “B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends,” “B. Smith’s Rituals and Celebrations” and “B. Smith Cooks Southern Style.”
After announcing her early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2014, she wrote a book about her journey with the disease called “Before I Forget” in 2016 with her husband and Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson.