Lester Neil Smith III, better known as L. Neil Smith, was an American libertarian science fiction author and political activist. His works include the trilogy of Lando Calrissian novels, all published in 1983: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. He also wrote the novels Pallas, The Forge of the Elders, and The Probability Broach, each of which won the Libertarian Futurist Society's annual Prometheus Award for best libertarian science fiction novel. In 2016, Smith received a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Libertarian Futurist Society.

He was a gun rights activist, born in Denver, Colorado. Smith began publishing science fiction with "Grimm’s Law" for Stellar 5 in 1980. He wrote 31 books, including 29 novels, and a number of essays and short stories. He was the editor of LEVER ACTION BBS, founder and International Coordinator of the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, Secretary and Legislative Director of the Weld County Fish & Wildlife Association, and an NRA Life Member. Smith passed away on August 27, 2021 in Fort Collins, Colorado at age 75.