Clarence O. Smith, one of the founders of Essence Magazine, passed away on Monday, April 21, at the age of 92. Smith spent over three decades at Essence Communications, serving as president and overseeing the company’s advertising and marketing. The New York Times reported that Smith resided in Yonkers, NY, and passed away in a hospital after a short illness, according to his niece Kimberly Fonville Boyd. When reflecting on Smith’s death, Susan L. Taylor, the magazine’s former Editor-in-Chief, told Essence, “He shifted hearts, minds—and investment choices—in the conventional advertising world. With the