A former professor at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol is writing a book to preserve the recently closed school’s 130-year history. Mary Lou Smith’s 57-year career ended abruptly in May. That’s when the private, liberal arts school halted operations due to a financial collapse and lost accreditation. Smith graduated from the former two-year girl’s school in 1955 and began teaching there in 1957. She worked for seven college presidents. She’s researching the school’s founding in Glade Spring by the Rev. Joseph Harrison and its move to Bristol. Smith expects the research and writing could take at least a year.