B. Smith, model turned lifestyle guru, dead at 70
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2012 file photo, former model and restaurateur B. Smith arrives at the BET Honors red carpet in the Warner Theatre in Washington. Smith died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at her Long Island, New York, home, after battling early onset Alzheimer's disease, according to a family statement on social media. She was 70.[AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File]
Barbara "B." Smith, one of the nation's top black models who went on to open restaurants, launch a successful home products line and write cookbooks, has died at her Long Island home at age 70.
Smith had been battling early onset Alzheimer's disease.
Smith's family announced on social media that she died Saturday evening.
Smith's eponymous Manhattan restaurant, one of several, opened in 1986 and attracted a following among affluent black New Yorkers.
She wrote three cookbooks, founded three successful restaurants and launched a nationally syndicated television show, a magazine and home products line.