Eliot Fremont-Smith, 78; critic and co-founder of the Book Critics Circle

Eliot Fremont-Smith, 78, a former book critic for the New York Times and the Village Voice who was also a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle, died Sept. 5 of heart failure in Mount Pleasant, N.C., his wife, Leda Fremont-Smith, told the New York Times.

In his years at the Times, Fremont-Smith broadened the range of books under consideration, reviewing in 1966 “The Story of O,” an erotic French novel by Pauline Reage, a pseudonym for novelist and journalist Anne Desclos. He also reviewed Gore Vidal’s 1968 novel about a transvestite, “Myra Breckinridge.”

After he joined the Village Voice years later, he became embroiled in controversy when he co-wrote an article accusing Jerzy Kosinski, the author of “Being There” and “The Painted Bird,” of having editors ghost-write his books. He also suggested that the CIA had played a role in the publication of some of them.

The article, the Times obituary said, set off a furor in publishing circles, including a response in the New York Times that said Kosinski wrote his own books. Kosinski killed himself in 1991.

In 1974, Fremont-Smith served on the founding board of the National Book Critics Circle. He was elected the board’s president in 1976, serving until 1982. He served on the board from time to time until 1994.

Fremont-Smith was born in Cambridge, Mass., and graduated from Antioch College. He worked for Doubleday Books before joining the Times and later served as the chief editor of Little, Brown & Co. In addition to the Times and Village Voice, Fremont-Smith also wrote for the Saturday Review and New York magazine.