Everything, decided Francie after that first lecture, was vibrant with life adn there was no death in chemistry. She was puzzled as to why learned people didn't adopt chemistry as a religion.

In 1938 Betty Smith divorced her husband and moved to Chapel Hill North Carolina. There Betty Smith honed her skills in journalism literature writing and drama winning a prestigious Avery Hopwood Award. Smith a fellow Brooklynite Betty Smith moved with him to Ann Arbor Michigan where he pursued a law degree at the University of Michigan.