Editing Samantha Smith (section)

==Life==
Samantha Smith was born on June 29, 1972, in the small town of [[Houlton, Maine]], on the [[Canada–United States border]], to Jane Goshorn<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.hollins.edu/175th-anniversary/distinguished-graduates/jane-goshorn-smith/ |title= Jane Goshorn Smith |website= Hollins |access-date= 2020-02-19  |archive-date= 2020-02-19  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200219005830/https://www.hollins.edu/175th-anniversary/distinguished-graduates/jane-goshorn-smith/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> and Arthur Smith. At the age of five, she wrote a letter to [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in order to express her admiration to the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]]. When Smith had finished second grade in spring 1980, the family settled in [[Manchester, Maine]], where she attended Manchester Elementary School. Her father served as an instructor at [[Ricker College]] in Houlton<ref>Wright, Bruce (2007–2011) "[http://rickerscholarship.com/history.htm Ricker College: A Small School in A Big County]", Ricker College Trustees. Retrieved on February 6, 2015.</ref> before teaching literature and writing at the [[University of Maine at Augusta]]<ref name= "time836">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20081202041719/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923608-2,00.html Pen Pals]". ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, May 9, 1983. Retrieved on April 14, 2008.</ref> while her mother worked as a [[Social work|social worker]] with the Maine Department of Human Services.<ref>{{cite web | last=Martínez | first=Alonso | title=Samantha Smith: the schoolgirl who became “America’s Youngest Peace Ambassador” | website=EL PAÍS English | date=7 July 2023 | url=https://english.elpais.com/usa/2023-07-07/samantha-smith-the-schoolgirl-who-became-americas-youngest-peace-ambassador.html | access-date=10 December 2024}}</ref>

In November 1982, when Smith was 10 years old, she wrote to Soviet leader [[Yuri Andropov]], seeking to understand why [[Soviet Union–United States relations]] were so tense:

{{quote|Dear Mr. Andropov,

My name is Samantha Smith. I am 10 years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States [[Cold War|getting into a nuclear war]]. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like it if you would. Why do you want to conquer the world or at least our country? [[God]] made the world for us to share and take care of. Not to fight over or have one group of people own it all. Please lets do what he wanted and have everybody be happy too.

Samantha Smith<ref>{{cite web |title=The original of Samantha Smith's letter |date=June 19, 2021 |publisher=The Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI) F. 82 Op. 1 D. 61 L. 8 |url=https://wahregeschichte.com/wahre-geschichte-samanta-smith-die-1980er-greta-ea3327e8d247}}</ref>}}

Her letter was published in the Soviet state-run newspaper ''[[Pravda]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=PRAVDA says it has letters from America |last=Chazanov |first=Mathis |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=April 12, 1983 |pages=E16}}</ref> Smith was happy to discover that her letter had been published; however, she had not received a reply. She then sent a letter to Soviet ambassador to the United States [[Anatoly Dobrynin]] asking if Andropov intended to respond.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fedyashin |first=Anton |title=Andropov's Gamble: Samantha Smith and Soviet Soft Power |journal=Journal of Russian American Studies |date=May 4, 2020 |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=3 |doi=10.17161/jras.v4i1.13656 |doi-access=free}}</ref> On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov:

{{quote|Dear Samantha,

I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world.

It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling [[List_of_Tom_Sawyer_characters#Becky_Thatcher|Becky]], the friend of [[List of characters in the Tom Sawyer series#Tom Sawyer|Tom Sawyer]] in the famous book of your compatriot [[Mark Twain]]. This book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and girls.

You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.

Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.

Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, [[Vladimir Lenin]], taught us.

Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, [[Nazi Germany]], which strove for supremacy over the whole world, [[Operation Barbarossa|attacked our country]], burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|millions of Soviet men, women and children]].

In [[World War II|that war]], which ended with our victory, [[Allies of World War II|we were in alliance with the United States]]: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on this earth—with those far away and those near by. And certainly with such a great country as the United States of America.

In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons—terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world that [[No first use|never will it use nuclear weapons first]] against any country. In general we propose to discontinue further production of them and to proceed to the [[Nuclear disarmament|abolition of all the stockpiles]] on Earth.

It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second question: 'Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?' We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country–neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government–want either a big or 'little' war.

We want peace—there is something that we are occupied with: growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and [[Space Race|flying into space]]. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.

I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp – [[Artek (camp)|Artek]] – on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples.

Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life.

Y. Andropov<ref name="letter">{{cite web |title=Samantha's Letter |publisher=www.SamanthaSmith.Info |url=http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history/letter |access-date=2013-05-25 |archive-date=2018-09-26  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926171116/http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history/letter |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Warner |author-first1=Gale |author-last2=Shuman |author-first2=Michael |title=Citizen diplomats: pathfinders in Soviet-American relations and how you can join them |date=1987 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=0826403824 |page=[https://archive.org/details/citizendiplomats00warn/page/285 285] |url=https://archive.org/details/citizendiplomats00warn |url-access=registration}}</ref>}}

[[File:RIAN archive 793152 U.S. girl Samantha Smith in Artek.jpg|thumb|Samantha Smith (center) visiting the USSR upon the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of CPSU Yuri Andropov in all-Union Artek pioneer camp]]

A [[media circus]] ensued, with Smith being interviewed by [[Ted Koppel]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Koppel |first=Ted |title=A Nightline Moment From 1983 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Nightline25/story?id=358816 |date=December 23, 2004 |access-date=February 25, 2008}}</ref> and [[Johnny Carson]], among others, and with nightly reports by the major American networks. On July 7, 1983, she flew to Moscow with her parents, and spent two weeks as Andropov's guest. During the trip she visited [[Moscow]] and [[Leningrad]] and spent time in [[Artek (camp)|Artek]], the main Soviet [[Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union|pioneer]] camp, in the town of [[Gurzuf]] on the [[Crimea|Crimean Peninsula]]. Smith wrote in her book that in Leningrad she and her parents were amazed by the friendliness of the people and by the presents many people made for them.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Speaking at a Moscow press conference, she declared that the Russians were "just like us".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Krauthammer |first=Charles |author-link = Charles Krauthammer |title=Deep Down, We're All Alike, Right? Wrong |magazine=Time |date=August 15, 1983 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949728,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080928092814/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949728,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 28, 2008 |access-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref> In Artek, Smith chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than accept the privileged accommodations offered to her.<ref name=tass/> For ease of communication, teachers and children who spoke fluent English were chosen to stay in the building where she was lodged.<ref>[https://mel.fm/zhizn/istorii/6542139-ya-prosnulas-i-podumala-chto-esli-eto-posledny-den-zhizni-na-zemle?ysclid=lrugjmaflb764527226 Боролась за мир и погибла в 13 лет: как Саманта Смит из США написала Андропову и стала знаменитой]. In Russian</ref> Smith shared a dormitory with nine other girls, and spent her time there swimming,<ref name=budem>[https://aif.ru/society/history/budem_zhit_kak_samanta_smit_borolas_za_mir?ysclid=lrugjogvfu932144115 «Будем жить!» Как Саманта Смит боролась за мир]. In Russian</ref> talking and learning Russian songs and dances. While there, she made many friends, including Natasha Kashirina from Leningrad, a fluent English speaker.<ref name=comeback>[https://krym.aif.ru/society/persona/pust_vsegda_budet_solnce_35_let_nazad_v_krymu_pobyvala_samanta_smit?from_inject=1 «Сказала, что вернётся ещё раз». 35 лет назад в Крыму побывала Саманта Смит]. In Russian</ref><ref name=tass/>

Samantha spontaneously participated in the documentary film "The Capital of Childhood" dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Artek.<ref name=comeback/> Together with Natasha, she performed the song "[[May There Always Be Sunshine!]]". Cinematographer Nikolai Zherekhov recalled: "An ordinary child, she was no different from our boys and girls, maybe she was more liberated, our guys were a little restrained at first. I remember her extraordinary, kind, sunny, lively and sincere smile, there was no stardom in it."<ref name=tass>[https://tass.ru/v-strane/4370507 С миссией мира: как 10-летней девочке удалось сблизить две супердержавы]. In Russian</ref>

[[File:Sam Smith Alley II.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Samantha Smith Alley in [[Artek (camp)|Artek Camp]] "Morskoy"]]

Andropov, however, was unable to meet with her during her visit,<ref>{{cite news |title=Andropov Is Too Busy To Meet Maine Girl |work=The New York Times |date=July 21, 1983 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EED81239F932A15754C0A965948260 |access-date=March 3, 2008}}</ref> although they did speak by telephone. It was later discovered that Andropov had become seriously ill and had withdrawn from the public eye during this time.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Soviet Union Sick Leave |magazine=Time |last=Smith |first=William E. |date=February 4, 1985 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959886,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408082845/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959886,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref><ref name=budem/> Smith also met with Russian cosmonaut [[Valentina Tereshkova]], the first woman to orbit the Earth,<ref>{{cite news |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |title= An American girl gets a telephone call from a former cosmonaut |page=A03 |date=July 15, 1983}}</ref><ref name=budem/> and visited an experimental fruit station in Malen'koe village.<ref name=comeback/> Media followed her every step—photographs and articles about her were published by the main Soviet newspapers and magazines throughout her trip and after it. Smith became widely known to Soviet citizens and was well regarded by many of them. In the United States, the event drew suspicion and some regarded it as an "American-style [[public relations stunt]]".<ref>{{cite news |last=Moats |first=Alice-Leone |author-link=Alice-Leone Moats |title=Yes, Samantha, there's a Soviet bear |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=July 12, 1983 |page=A11}}</ref>

Smith's return to the US on July 22, 1983, was celebrated by the people of [[Maine]] with roses, a red carpet, and a limousine<ref Name=NYTBack>{{cite news |title=From Russia back to 'regular things'|date=July 23, 1983 |work=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE5DC1339F930A15754C0A965948260 |access-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref> and her popularity continued to grow in her native country. Some critics at the time remained skeptical, believing Smith was unwittingly serving as an instrument of [[Soviet propaganda]].<ref Name=NYTBack/><ref name=USA20>{{cite news |title=Samantha Smith remembered on 20th anniversary of Soviet visit |date=July 14, 2003 |work=USA Today.com |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-07-14-samantha-smith_x.htm |access-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref> In December 1983, continuing in her role as "America's Youngest Ambassador", she was invited to Japan,<ref>{{cite news |title=Andropov's Pen Pal Is Off to See Japanese |work=The New York Times |date=December 22, 1983 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E6D61438F931A15751C1A965948260 |access-date=March 3, 2008}}</ref> where she met with the Prime Minister [[Yasuhiro Nakasone]] and attended the Children's International Symposium in [[Kobe]]. In her speech at the symposium, she suggested that Soviet and American leaders exchange granddaughters for two weeks every year, arguing that a president "wouldn't want to send a bomb to a country his granddaughter would be visiting".<ref name="Kobe">{{cite web |url=http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history/kobe-japan |title=Samantha's address to the Children's Symposium 1983 December 26 |publisher=samanthasmith.info |access-date=May 25, 2013 |archive-date=March 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319073421/http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history/kobe-japan |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her trip inspired other exchanges of child goodwill ambassadors,<ref>Hauss, Charles. "Beyond Confrontation: Transforming the New World Order". Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1996. p. 244. {{ISBN|0-275-94615-0}}.</ref> including a visit by the eleven-year-old Russian child [[Katya Lycheva]] to the United States.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Garcia |first=Guy D. |title=People |date=March 31, 1986 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960983,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408175827/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960983,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date= April 8, 2008 |access-date=March 8, 2008 |magazine=Time}}</ref> Later, Smith wrote a book called ''Journey to the Soviet Union''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=0316801763 |title= Results for '0316801763' |publisher=Worldcat |date=2011 |access-date= June 7, 2011}}</ref> whose cover shows her at Artek,<ref name="Samantha Smith Project"/> her favorite part of the Soviet trip.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Warner |author-first1=Gale |author-last2=Shuman |author-first2=Michael |title=Citizen Diplomats |publisher=Continuum |date=1987 |location=New York, USA |page= [https://archive.org/details/citizendiplomats00warn/page/286 286] |url= https://archive.org/details/citizendiplomats00warn/ |isbn= 0-8264-0382-4 |access-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>

Smith pursued her role as a media celebrity when in 1984, billed as a "Special Correspondent", she hosted a children's special for [[Disney Channel|The Disney Channel]] entitled ''Samantha Smith Goes To Washington... Campaign '84''.<ref>February 1984 issue, Disney Channel Magazine.</ref><ref name= autogenerated1>{{YouTube|Ql0WdcprLKQ|Samantha Smith Goes to Washington, DC}}</ref> The show covered politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the [[1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries]], including [[George McGovern]], [[John Glenn]] and [[Jesse Jackson]]. That same year, she guest starred in ''[[Charles in Charge]]'' as Kim, alongside another celebrity guest star, [[Julianne McNamara]]. Her fame resulted in Smith becoming the subject of [[Stalking|stalker]] [[Robert John Bardo]], the man who would later go on to stalk and ultimately murder ''[[My Sister Sam]]'' actress [[Rebecca Schaeffer]]. Bardo traveled to Maine in an attempt to meet Smith; however, he aborted his attempt when being given a citation by police. Concerned that he was drawing too much attention to himself, Bardo returned home. He later confessed to finding new ways to stalk Smith, but her later death terminated his master plan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Snow |first=Robert L. |date=1998 |title=Stopping a Stalker: A Cop's Guide to Making the System Work for You |page=72 |isbn=0-306-45785-7 |publisher=Da Capo Press |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LwBayeFbb0IC&pg=PA72 |access-date= February 25, 2005 }}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1985, she played the co-starring role of the elder daughter to [[Robert Wagner]]'s character in the television series ''[[Lime Street (TV series)|Lime Street]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Samantha, SOV visitor, going on TV |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=February 25, 1985 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=People |last=Castro |first= Janice |magazine=Time |date=March 11, 1985 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962605,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080408144820/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962605,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=March 8, 2008}}</ref>