After Towne's departure, Colonel Mann stepped up as editor alongside Fred Splint, and the two quickly set out to revitalize the magazine in order to rebuild its readership. As part of this revitalization, Mann started a monthly book review column and, in 1908, Splint hired the Baltimore newspaperman Henry Louis Mencken to fill the book reviewer position at the suggestion of editorial assistant Norman Boyer. The twenty-eight-year-old Mencken quickly became quite popular with readers as his "oracular, pungent, and racy" book reviews garnered much attention. Using his position as book reviewer for "The Smart Set", Mencken would become "America's most important literary and social critic."