Ann Fairbairn (Dorothy Tait) was best known for "Five Smooth Stones," but also published two other books: a biography of New Orleans jazz clarinetist George Lewis, whose tours she managed, and a 1970 novel, "That Man Cartwright". During the 1930s she was involved with the WPA project as a writer. She worked as a riveter in the shipyards in San Francisco during World War II. In the 1940s she worked in Bakersfield for a newspaper and also a radio station. She lived for many years in New Orleans and died in Monterey, California.