Joanne Smyth Kennedy

Joanne Smyth Kennedy, author, bookseller, and devoted friend to nature and animals, died at home in Livermore, Colorado, on November 9, 2026, of cancer. She was 67.

Born March 16, 1959, in North Adams, Massachusetts, Joanne grew up in Williamstown before her family moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1971. She graduated from Liberty High School in 1977 and, after a year of college, opened an independent bookstore in Allentown. It was a success, but the pull of Montana’s wilderness and history was stronger, and she headed west. The West claimed her heart, and she stayed for a lifetime.

Joanne spent years as a bookseller with B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble in Missoula, Bozeman, Billings, and Fort Collins, and she eventually became manager of the Barnes & Noble in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was there that she met the love of her life, Ken.

Her love of books led to a writing career. After attending Colorado Romance Writers and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conferences, she found an agent and a publisher. She went on to write twelve contemporary western romances, beginning with Cowboy Trouble in 2010. One Fine Cowboy was a Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist, and How to Handle a Cowboy, the first in her Decker Ranch trilogy, was named one of Booklist’s Best Romances of the Decade. Other titles include Tall, Dark and Cowboy and Cowboy Tough.

Though she was known for her cowboys, they weren’t the first stories she wrote. One of Joanne’s dreams was to publish a paranormal romance, and even as cancer took its toll, she worked on that book and held a copy before she died. Unleashed is available now. Inspired by friends, family, the beauty of Wyoming, and a determination to share the characters who lived in her head with her readers, she kept writing after her 2012 diagnosis.

Joanne and Ken married in the spring of 2012. They explored parks and wild places in their RV with their Jack Russells and a changing crew of dogs and tabbies. With her trademark sense of humor, Joanne would note that the pets were relatively well-behaved. When Wyoming winters grew too hard on her health, they added a winter home in Tucson, but their true sanctuary was Stillwater, their quiet place on the Wyoming-Colorado border.

Just as she wished, Joanne passed peacefully at home, looking out at the trees, the hoo-doos, and the birds, with her pets on the bed and her husband at her side.

She is survived by her husband, Ken; her children, Alycia Fleury, Scott McCauley, and Brian Davis Jr., and their spouses and children; and her sister, Carolyn, of Italy.

The family extends deep gratitude to Dr. Datko, the oncology and palliative care team at the University of Colorado Health, and Accent Care for their compassionate hospice support.

A celebration of life is planned for April 2027, to coincide with the release of her final novel, Trouble in Cowboy Boots, from Sourcebooks. Details will be announced.

In lieu of flowers, Joanne would have encouraged you to choose a local, socially progressive cause and give your time, goods, or financial support.