Local Native Wins Acclaim in Archaeology

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Byline: Betty Ruwitch

We have a local celebrity right in our own back yard. The April issue of National Geographic magazine features an article entitled "Yucatan's Mysterious Hill Cities." On page 62 is a picture of archaeologist Michael Smyth, who grew up on the shores of Third Lake.

Michael Smyth was born in 1957 and attended Avon School. At that time, Avon was a kindergarten through eighth-grade building and a district of its own. Each year Avon held one of the best science fairs in Lake County. Smyth was in junior high when he did a project for the fair on King Tut's tomb. He didn't win any prizes that year but he never lost his fascination with science. …