Restaurateur, Designer and Former Model B. Smith Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

alzheimer's, B. Smith, African-Americans Alzheimers
(image credit: Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times)


B. Smith is the ultimate Renaissance woman. In 1977, the former model was on the first African-American woman to grace the cover of Mademoiselle Magazine. Smith then went on to found a domestic empire akin to Martha Stewart, with recipe books, books on entertaining in your home, homewares, jewelry lines, olive oils, and restaurants in both D.C. and New York. She also broke into media with a SiriusXM radio show, co-hosted by her husband of 20 years Dan Gasby, and a magazine.

And now, this inspiration woman has come public with her diagnoses of Alzheimer’s. In an interview scheduled to air June 15th on CBS during “CBS Sunday Morning”, Smith will talk to the network’s medical correspondent Jon LaPook about her diagnosis, and what it means to her. According to the Alzheimer’s foundation, African-Americans are more than twice as likely than whites to develop a late-onset version of this disease.