Kit Smyth Basquin holds a BA from Goucher College in history, an MA in art history from Indiana University, and a PhD in interdisciplinary studies from Union Institute and University, Cincinnati. She worked thirteen-and-a-half years as an administrator in the Drawings and Prints department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to that she was curator of education and independent curator at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee. She is a free-lance writer and a choral singer in New York.
In writing this biography, Smyth Basquin has made a facet of film history glimmer in a new light. Bute led a fascinating life, and her films, until recently, had been widely overlooked. Kit Smyth Basquin not only has been thorough with her research but also has donated her collected materials to the Beinecke Library at Yale University (167). The book is an essential addition to the field of animation studies, vastly increasing the available information about Bute. It serves as both an acknowledgement of her contributions to cinema and a testament to the rewards of finding one's own way amid hardships. --Tom Klein Film Quarterly