
Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972–August 25, 1985) was an United States schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine who was called ''America's Youngest Ambassador'' in the United States and the ''Goodwill Ambassador'' in the Soviet Union during her lifetime. She became famous in these two countries and well-known worldwide after writing a letter to the Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov during the Cold War and receiving a reply from Andropov which included a personal invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which Smith accepted. Assisted by extensive mass media attention in both countries, she participated in peacemaking activities in some other countries after her visit to the Soviet Union, wrote a book and co-starred in a television series before her death in an Accidents and incidents in aviation. ==Biography== ===Early years=== Smith was born on June 29, 1972 in Houlton, Maine and lived there with her parents, Arthur and Jane. She enjoyed field hockey, roller skating, reading, and science, and played on her school's softball team. At age five she wrote a letter to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, telling her that she liked her. In 1980, when Smith had just finished second grade, her family moved to Manchester, Maine, where she attended Manchester Middle School. Her father taught literature and writing at the University of Maine System at Augusta, Maine, and her mother worked as a social worker with the Maine Department of Human Services Augusta. Later her mother described how events began. After Yuri Andropov became the Soviet leader, the leading American newspapers and magazines had his portrait on their covers and lead articles dedicated to him with rather negative views on his assumption of power and expectations of new threats to the world. During this period, massive anti-nuclear protests were taking place in Europe and North America, and there was expectation for the American Broadcasting Company Nuclear warfare television movie ''The Day After'' which was scheduled to be aired for November sweeps. Ronald Reagan had also scrapped the concept of ''détente'', and had moved to deploy cruise missiles and the Pershing II missile in Europe. The Soviet Union had been Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for three years already, which also contributed to the international tension. It was a ''Time (magazine)'' magazine article (most likely its November 22 1982 issue) that met Smith's eyes. "If people are so afraid of him," she asked her mother, "why doesn't someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?" "Why don't you?" her mother replied. ===The letters=== In November 1982, when Smith was in fifth grade, she wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, trying to understand why the relations between the Soviet Union and the USA were so tense: : ''Dear Mr. Andropov'', : ''My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States 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 to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight''. : ''Sincerely,'' : ''Samantha Smith'' Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper ''Pravda'' and on April 25, she received a response from Andropov: : ''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 characters in the Tom Sawyer series, the friend of List of characters in the Tom Sawyer series 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, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.'' : ''In that war, which ended with our victory, 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 never—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 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 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"—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'' ===Worldwide success=== A media circus ensued, with Smith being interviewed by Ted Koppel and Johnny Carson, among others, and with nightly reports by the major American networks. On July 7, 1983, Smith flew to Moscow with her parents, spending two weeks as Andropov's guest. During this trip she visited Moscow and Leningrad, and spent some time in Artek (camp), the main Soviet pioneer camp in the town of Gurzuf on the Crimea peninsula. Although Andropov, who was already seriously ill, did not meet her, they spoke by telephone. 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 them. Speaking at a Moscow press conference, Smith declared that the Russians were "just like us." In Artek she chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than take a separate accommodation offered to her. For ease of communication, teachers and children with fluent English were chosen to live in the building where she was lodged. Staying in a dormitory with nine other girls, Smith spent her time swimming, talking, and learning Russian songs and dances. She made many friends there, including Natasha Kashirina from Leningrad, who spoke English language fluently. 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. When Smith returned to the U.S. on July 22 1983, her arrival was celebrated by the Maine community and her popularity continued to grow in her native country. She became a political and peace activist, hosting a children's special in 1984 for Disney about politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the U.S. presidential election, 1984, including George McGovern and Jesse Jackson. She went to Japan with her mother, where she met with Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Prime Minister of Japan, and attended the Children's International Symposium in Kobe, Hyogo. In her speech at this 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." Later, Smith wrote a book called ''Journey to the Soviet Union'' and took on an acting role, co-starring with Robert Wagner in a television series called ''Lime Street''. Though many people in the U.S. expressed positive sentiments towards her, a certain part of its population, including many 1930s-1950s emigrants from the Soviet Union as well as other American citizens, looked unfavorably on her trip, arguing that she was only being used as propaganda. ===Death and funeral=== On a return flight from filming a segment for ''Lime Street'' in the summer of 1985, Smith's plane missed the runway of the Auburn, Maine, Maine airport by 200 yards and crashed, killing all aboard (six passengers and two crew), including Smith and her father. Many speculations regarding the cause of the accident circulated afterwards — some said it was organized by the CIA while others accused the KGB, arguing that Smith's growing popularity could affect some important political or military decisions in either country. An investigation was undertaken in the USA and the official report, which did not support these speculations, was made public. As stated in the report, the accident occurred at about 22:05 EDT, the ground impact point located 1.6 km south-west of Auburn airport, at . The report goes on to say, "The relatively steep flight path angle and the Aircraft attitude (the orientation of the aircraft relative to the horizon, direction of motion etc.) and speed of the airplane at ground impact precluded the occupants from surviving the accident." The main point of the report was that it was a dark and rainy night, the pilots were inexperienced, and an accidental, but not uncommon and not usually critical, ground radar failure occurred. The plane used for the fatal flight was a Bar Harbor Airlines Beechcraft. Samantha Smith was mourned by about 1,000 people at her funeral in Washington, D.C., including Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev. However, no representative of the American government was present. She and her father were buried near Houlton where she was born. ==Tributes== ===USSR=== The Soviet Union issued a commemorative stamp with her likeness. A diamond, a cultivar of tulips and of dahlias, a passenger ship and a mountain were named in Samantha Smith's honour, and a monument to her was built in Moscow. When Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh discovered asteroid 3147, she named it 3147 Samantha. ===USA=== Samantha Smith's mother founded the Samantha Smith Foundation in October 1985, which fostered student exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union until it became dormant in 1995. The first Monday in June of each year is designated as Samantha Smith Day by the law of Maine and there is a statue of Samantha Smith near the Maine State Museum in Augusta, which portrays Smith releasing a dove, while a bear cub is resting at her feet. The bear cub represents both Maine and Russia. A Washington State elementary school was also named after Smith. ===Russian Federation=== After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the extensive coverage by the Russian media of all events related to Samantha Smith stopped. The monument built to her in Moscow was stolen by metal thief in 2003. However, some interviews with her mother Jane Smith were published in Russian newspapers in the early 2000s and many people in Russia still remember her fondly. In 2003 Valentin Vaulin, a retiree from Voronezh, built a monument to her without any support from the government. ==References== * Arthur and Samantha Smith: ''Journey to the Soviet Union'', Little Brown and Co., 1985. 1st ed. ISBN 0316801763. * Anne Galicich: ''Samantha Smith: A Journey for Peace'', Minneapolis Dillon Press, Inc., 1987. ISBN 0875183670 ==External links== * [http://www.samanthasmith.info SamanthaSmith.info - website dedicated to Samantha Smith. ] There are pictures, articles and forum. * * [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/ Samantha Smith Elementary School] was named after her; there are colored photos of Smith and biography * [http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/1/title1sec126.html Text of Maine statute declaring Samantha Smith Day] * [http://www.state.me.us/sos/kids/allabout/people/s_smith.htm Samantha Smith's statue in Augusta] * [http://artekovetc.gurzuf.ru/press6.html Article about Samantha Smith's visit of Artek (in Russian)], which contains photos taken of her there. * [http://www.kotlas.org/cisme/samantha.html Samantha Smith Foundation] * [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850825-0 Aircraft Accident Report], a description with a link to the official report * [http://vrn.vsi.ru/news_detail.html?news=1071&print= A monument to her in Voronezh (in Russian)] - from the Voronezh online newspaper 1972 births 1985 deaths Cold War people American people People with asteroids named after them People from Maine
==Samantha's photo== This is actually an altered original image made by Patrick Carkin (see his article [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/Samantha_Smith.htm]). I think, that original image should be uploaded - ''movie sequence''-style images are not a good decision for main images in biographical articles. See more details on that image's Image_talk:Samantha.jpg . User:Cmapm 16:33, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC) Thanks to a man, who fixed this. User:Cmapm 14:20, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Featured article candidate?== Is it a time to make it a Wikipedia:Featured article candidates? In my view, it more or less conforms to the main Wikipedia:What is a featured article already. What do you think, folks? User:Cmapm 10:11, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==New Samantha Smith Website== http://www.SamanthaSmith.info Visit Forum and share your thoughts and memories of Samantha. ==Typo in letter by Andropov?== The letter contains "I hope that you known about this from your history lessons in school." Did the original letter contain the same? User:Jan van Male 16:02, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I don't know, where the text of the letter was taken from. In online sources known for myself (e.g. [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/Samantha_Smith.htm]) the typo is present too. Unfortunately, I can't "reach" books mentioned in the ''References'' section or other printed sources to verify this. User:Cmapm 16:55, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I've just found out, that the letter in the article is not the original letter from Andropov - the sense is the same, nothing seems to be omitted or added, but its syntax differs. However, this letter is cited by solid sources, therefore it is not a hoax. My guess for this is that it is a translated back to English Russian text of this letter from Pravda. Few excerpts from the original letter (the image is "cut" from the right side a bit, however) can be found here [http://amerikids.com/lgsam.htm]. And what approves that namely these excerpts are from the original is a photo of Samantha with this letter in her hand [http://www.komsomolfilms.com/samlettersmall.jpg] - letters there are nearly invisible, but by lengths of the words your can see, that it is true. I think, that the original letter in English can be found in Samantha's book, if someone will be so lucky to get it, please, place here the original letter! User:Cmapm 22:39, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Time magazine?== The following my latest addition ''Later Samantha's mother told, how all the story began exactly. After Andropov became the Soviet leader the main American newspapers and magazines had his portrait on their covers and leading articles dedicated to him with rather negative view on this event and expectations of new threats to the world. One of them met Samantha's eyes. Her question was: if all people are so afraid of him, why no one writes a letter, asking whether he wants to have a war or not? Her mother replied: "Why don't you?"'' is a summary of an excerpt from Jane Smith's interview, which she gave, during her visit to Artek in 2000 as a honorary guest, to one of Russian newspapers [http://artekovetc.gurzuf.ru/press6.html]. There is said concretely: it was the "Times" (not concreticized, whether newspaper or magazine) with Andropov's portrait on its cover, that met Samantha's eyes. However "The Times" is UK newspaper and the word cover (well, at least its Russian equivalent) is not generally used for newspapers, rather it is for magazines. Therefore, my guess is that it was a pretty popular in the USA at that time "Time" magazine and, guessing further, it may well be its November 22 1982 issue with the leading article "A Mix of Caution and Opportunism " and Andropov's photo on its cover with the caption: "Andropov Takes Command" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601821129,00.html]. User:Cmapm 00:01, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) The first my guess was true: I've just found Samantha's mother's another interview as of August 5 2004 in another Russian newspaper, where Jane Smith says it was "Time" magazine (in Russian: журнал "Тайм") with Andropov's portrait on its cover [http://www.mk.ru/numbers/1209/article36241.htm]. I'll include this info into the article in a while. User:Cmapm 13:38, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) There were no other Time issues with Andropov's portrait on their covers between October 1982 and January 1983. Therefore, all my guesses proved to be true. User:Cmapm 13:48, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Lime Street== I have this and am not sure where to put it. User:PMA 15:09, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :What a nice image! But... There always are two problems: the source and copyright status. For example, at the present I have 19 nice images of Samantha, including that of faximile "I stand for peace", written by her hand. But for all of them either the source is unknown or copyright status is not more than "Fair use". But one "Fair use" image is already present, it would be good, if the second image should be one. And a personal question:where did you get this image from? May be you even can point out, where ''Lime street'' (4 episodes, it seems) in VHS or DVD format could be found? User:Cmapm 15:50, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- You have to love the red-white thing Sam is wearing - so mid-1980s fashion :) Don't know where to get copies of the show though. Anyway i enquired on a forum at TV Tome and got this: ::''Originally the plan was to continue the series without Samantha. But after a few more episodes were shot it became clear it wasn't going to work. So ultimately the series did end production because of her death, but it took those additional episodes without her to convince everyone that going on was not a wise decision. Actually the plan was to add another daughter. Not to recast Samantha's part, however. Her character, Elizabeth, was going to go off to live with her mother in Paris, while another daughter who'd been living with the mother was then going to move back to Virginia with her father. The characters name was going to be Libby, and several scripts were written with the character but never filmed.'' By the way isn't Libby one of the many nicknames for Elizabeth? User:PMA 16:04, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::Thanks! And it seems, I found where this image should fit best: Lime Street article (I'll start it in the future, if no one will). But only if its source and CP status will be clarified. User:Cmapm 16:15, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==In tribute (USSR)== The only reference to a rose named after her that I've found is Samantha's bio at the IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0809858/bio]. In contrast, at least two references [http://www.dahlia55.h1.ru/html/catalogue_my_dahlia.html], [http://common.narod.ru/pribalt/343.html], second of them with a photo, are to the dahlia, named after Samantha Smith. As the color of that cultivar of dahlia is rose, there is a possibility, that the dahlia was confused with the rose, so, I'll replace "roses" with "dahlias". I'll add a passenger ship, named after her as well, an English reference to this fact is [http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1016-04.htm], there are also many Russian references to it, the ship is the Ukraine property at the present. User:212.199.249.206 09:26, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) (aka User:Cmapm) I remember a tree planted as a tribute to Samantha in my school yard in Vladikavkaz. The tree is still there, by the entrance of the school #7. I believe, similar things happened in really many places. - User:Slavik IVANOV 10:58, 18 May 2005 (UTC) == Great article... == But wouldn't it have made more sense to lobby for it to be Featured Article on Samantha Smith Day (first Monday in June)? User:Ral315 :It seems, that generally, FA appearance on the Main Page usually is not bound to any specific date, I think it is a good policy by wiki admins. Actually, time proved, that this article was pretty raw, when I proposed to nominate it as a FA candidate and in that time I thought it would never be even featured. But thanks to the people, who edited/copyedited the article, it undergone major work since then and finally became featured and even "Main Paged" one. User:Cmapm 11:11, 11 May 2005 (UTC) I have deleted the rubbish posted in this page. It is really offensive. *Not nearly as offensive as your lack of couth in unilaterally deleting an article voted by Wikipedia editors as a Featured Article. Fortunately, deleted material is readily restored. Please take some time to learn the protocols here before you go off half-cocked again. User:DenniUser_talk:Denni 01:47, 2005 May 10 (UTC) ::Actually Denni, the anon removed a highly offensive comment which a previous editor had replaced the page with. While it would have been preferable for the anon to have reverted to a good page, they should be commended for helping.-User:Gadfium 01:51, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == Why TV? == I was just wondering if someone had run across any info on why S.S. made the move to TV but didn't include it in the article for whatever reason. She could have made good money from appearances at peace rallies and speaking tours and such, why do a TV show? Was this something that she wanted to do from the start or was it just some producer's idea to draw more viewers to the show? User:Dismas 06:24, 10 May 2005 (UTC) :I've seen somewhere, that she wanted to become both veterinary surgeon and ballet-dancer before the "Journey", but after it her preference changed in favor of an actress's career. I'll say more on this, when I find that source again. User:Cmapm 11:11, 11 May 2005 (UTC) == Irina Tarnopolsky? == Apparently a Soviet child, inspired by Samantha Smith, wrote to Andropov to ask for her father's release from the gulag, but without sucess. Is this relevant to the article? http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/030213/Opinion_fault.asp https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-charen021003.asp User:Rast 09:27, May 10, 2005 (UTC) :Not really? --User:OldakQuill User_talk:OldakQuill 22:57, 10 May 2005 (UTC) :It seems, that a "root" of this is a book “Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First,” by Mrs. Mona Charen. In my view, an extreme POV is present even in its title and a "useful idiot" is rather Mrs. Mona Charen herself. However, as (citing Andropov's letter) Samantha's letter was among "many others that have reached me [Andropov] recently from your country [USA] and from other countries around the world", Irina Tarnopolsky could well write her letter indeed. Again, in my view, if someone will find more info about her (including quotes from her letter), an article about Irina Tarnopolsky should be created and/or a mention of her should probably be present here. User:Cmapm 11:25, 11 May 2005 (UTC) == Troll At Work? == I looked at this article out of curiosity and noticed that some troll had added "pooped in her pants" to the Early Years section. I went in to edit it, and found it didn't exist. I went back to the standard view, and the text was there again. Not sure how this is being done - VB script maybe, or some exploit of a flaw. I have created a PDF of the page in case anyone else DOESN'T see the same effect... It's a shame when the morons feel the need to deface a valuable resource like Wikipedia, IMHO. :By the time you loaded the editable version the vandalism was probably removed. When you refer back to the final product you are looking at the previous cached version. If you use IE press Ctrl + F5 --User:OldakQuill User_talk:OldakQuill 22:59, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == End of the Cold War == She would have lived to see the end of the Cold War. In addition, she would have become the U.S. ambassador to Russia. - User:John-1107--Ed Telerionus 17:41, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == Катя Лычева == What about Катя Лычева (Katya Lychova ''or'' Lycheva)? She has been the Soviet child-ambassador in the 1980s, and I remember how popular she was here, in USSR. I think she's worth mentioning in this article, but, alas, I can't do it myself. - User:Slavik IVANOV 10:58, 18 May 2005 (UTC) :Yes, she was popular, but as I know, the peak of her popularity was shortly after Samantha's death (1986-1987 ??). She was a sort of a "Soviet answer" to the USA on Samantha's mission. Katya went to the USA (I have a photo of her and Ronald Reagan), starred in the Russian film for children. :However, it seems, that she was not as popular in the USSR as Samantha (I don't know for the USA). There is also some controversy concerning her (rumours about high-ranking parents, some unpleasant memoirs of those, who were in Artek together with her concerning her haughty character). Some people consider her "pale shadow" of Samantha. :It would be great to create a separate article about her and place here a link. While it does not exist, I could add some info about her here , but my English is too bad for a Featured Article :-( User:Cmapm 12:12, 18 May 2005 (UTC)
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Samantha Smith
Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972–August 25, 1985) was an United States schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine who was called ''America's Youngest Ambassador'' in the United States and the ''Goodwill Ambassador'' in the Soviet Union during her lifetime. She became famous in these two countries and well-known worldwide after writing a letter to the Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Yuri Andropov during the Cold War and receiving a reply from Andropov which included a personal invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which Smith accepted. Assisted by extensive mass media attention in both countries, she participated in peacemaking activities in some other countries after her visit to the Soviet Union, wrote a book and co-starred in a television series before her death in an Accidents and incidents in aviation. ==Biography== ===Early years=== Smith was born on June 29, 1972 in Houlton, Maine and lived there with her parents, Arthur and Jane. She enjoyed field hockey, roller skating, reading, and science, and played on her school's softball team. At age five she wrote a letter to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, telling her that she liked her. In 1980, when Smith had just finished second grade, her family moved to Manchester, Maine, where she attended Manchester Middle School. Her father taught literature and writing at the University of Maine System at Augusta, Maine, and her mother worked as a social worker with the Maine Department of Human Services Augusta. Later her mother described how events began. After Yuri Andropov became the Soviet leader, the leading American newspapers and magazines had his portrait on their covers and lead articles dedicated to him with rather negative views on his assumption of power and expectations of new threats to the world. During this period, massive anti-nuclear protests were taking place in Europe and North America, and there was expectation for the American Broadcasting Company Nuclear warfare television movie ''The Day After'' which was scheduled to be aired for November sweeps. Ronald Reagan had also scrapped the concept of ''détente'', and had moved to deploy cruise missiles and the Pershing II missile in Europe. The Soviet Union had been Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for three years already, which also contributed to the international tension. It was a ''Time (magazine)'' magazine article (most likely its November 22 1982 issue) that met Smith's eyes. "If people are so afraid of him," she asked her mother, "why doesn't someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?" "Why don't you?" her mother replied. ===The letters=== In November 1982, when Smith was in fifth grade, she wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, trying to understand why the relations between the Soviet Union and the USA were so tense: : ''Dear Mr. Andropov'', : ''My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States 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 to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight''. : ''Sincerely,'' : ''Samantha Smith'' Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper ''Pravda'' and on April 25, she received a response from Andropov: : ''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 characters in the Tom Sawyer series, the friend of List of characters in the Tom Sawyer series 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, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.'' : ''In that war, which ended with our victory, 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 never—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 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 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"—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'' ===Worldwide success=== A media circus ensued, with Smith being interviewed by Ted Koppel and Johnny Carson, among others, and with nightly reports by the major American networks. On July 7, 1983, Smith flew to Moscow with her parents, spending two weeks as Andropov's guest. During this trip she visited Moscow and Leningrad, and spent some time in Artek (camp), the main Soviet pioneer camp in the town of Gurzuf on the Crimea peninsula. Although Andropov, who was already seriously ill, did not meet her, they spoke by telephone. 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 them. Speaking at a Moscow press conference, Smith declared that the Russians were "just like us." In Artek she chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than take a separate accommodation offered to her. For ease of communication, teachers and children with fluent English were chosen to live in the building where she was lodged. Staying in a dormitory with nine other girls, Smith spent her time swimming, talking, and learning Russian songs and dances. She made many friends there, including Natasha Kashirina from Leningrad, who spoke English language fluently. 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. When Smith returned to the U.S. on July 22 1983, her arrival was celebrated by the Maine community and her popularity continued to grow in her native country. She became a political and peace activist, hosting a children's special in 1984 for Disney about politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the U.S. presidential election, 1984, including George McGovern and Jesse Jackson. She went to Japan with her mother, where she met with Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Prime Minister of Japan, and attended the Children's International Symposium in Kobe, Hyogo. In her speech at this 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." Later, Smith wrote a book called ''Journey to the Soviet Union'' and took on an acting role, co-starring with Robert Wagner in a television series called ''Lime Street''. Though many people in the U.S. expressed positive sentiments towards her, a certain part of its population, including many 1930s-1950s emigrants from the Soviet Union as well as other American citizens, looked unfavorably on her trip, arguing that she was only being used as propaganda. ===Death and funeral=== On a return flight from filming a segment for ''Lime Street'' in the summer of 1985, Smith's plane missed the runway of the Auburn, Maine, Maine airport by 200 yards and crashed, killing all aboard (six passengers and two crew), including Smith and her father. Many speculations regarding the cause of the accident circulated afterwards — some said it was organized by the CIA while others accused the KGB, arguing that Smith's growing popularity could affect some important political or military decisions in either country. An investigation was undertaken in the USA and the official report, which did not support these speculations, was made public. As stated in the report, the accident occurred at about 22:05 EDT, the ground impact point located 1.6 km south-west of Auburn airport, at . The report goes on to say, "The relatively steep flight path angle and the Aircraft attitude (the orientation of the aircraft relative to the horizon, direction of motion etc.) and speed of the airplane at ground impact precluded the occupants from surviving the accident." The main point of the report was that it was a dark and rainy night, the pilots were inexperienced, and an accidental, but not uncommon and not usually critical, ground radar failure occurred. The plane used for the fatal flight was a Bar Harbor Airlines Beechcraft. Samantha Smith was mourned by about 1,000 people at her funeral in Washington, D.C., including Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev. However, no representative of the American government was present. She and her father were buried near Houlton where she was born. ==Tributes== ===USSR=== The Soviet Union issued a commemorative stamp with her likeness. A diamond, a cultivar of tulips and of dahlias, a passenger ship and a mountain were named in Samantha Smith's honour, and a monument to her was built in Moscow. When Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh discovered asteroid 3147, she named it 3147 Samantha. ===USA=== Samantha Smith's mother founded the Samantha Smith Foundation in October 1985, which fostered student exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union until it became dormant in 1995. The first Monday in June of each year is designated as Samantha Smith Day by the law of Maine and there is a statue of Samantha Smith near the Maine State Museum in Augusta, which portrays Smith releasing a dove, while a bear cub is resting at her feet. The bear cub represents both Maine and Russia. A Washington State elementary school was also named after Smith. ===Russian Federation=== After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the extensive coverage by the Russian media of all events related to Samantha Smith stopped. The monument built to her in Moscow was stolen by metal thief in 2003. However, some interviews with her mother Jane Smith were published in Russian newspapers in the early 2000s and many people in Russia still remember her fondly. In 2003 Valentin Vaulin, a retiree from Voronezh, built a monument to her without any support from the government. ==References== * Arthur and Samantha Smith: ''Journey to the Soviet Union'', Little Brown and Co., 1985. 1st ed. ISBN 0316801763. * Anne Galicich: ''Samantha Smith: A Journey for Peace'', Minneapolis Dillon Press, Inc., 1987. ISBN 0875183670 ==External links== * [http://www.samanthasmith.info SamanthaSmith.info - website dedicated to Samantha Smith. ] There are pictures, articles and forum. * * [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/ Samantha Smith Elementary School] was named after her; there are colored photos of Smith and biography * [http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/1/title1sec126.html Text of Maine statute declaring Samantha Smith Day] * [http://www.state.me.us/sos/kids/allabout/people/s_smith.htm Samantha Smith's statue in Augusta] * [http://artekovetc.gurzuf.ru/press6.html Article about Samantha Smith's visit of Artek (in Russian)], which contains photos taken of her there. * [http://www.kotlas.org/cisme/samantha.html Samantha Smith Foundation] * [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850825-0 Aircraft Accident Report], a description with a link to the official report * [http://vrn.vsi.ru/news_detail.html?news=1071&print= A monument to her in Voronezh (in Russian)] - from the Voronezh online newspaper 1972 births 1985 deaths Cold War people American people People with asteroids named after them People from Maine
Samantha Smith
==Samantha's photo== This is actually an altered original image made by Patrick Carkin (see his article [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/Samantha_Smith.htm]). I think, that original image should be uploaded - ''movie sequence''-style images are not a good decision for main images in biographical articles. See more details on that image's Image_talk:Samantha.jpg . User:Cmapm 16:33, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC) Thanks to a man, who fixed this. User:Cmapm 14:20, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Featured article candidate?== Is it a time to make it a Wikipedia:Featured article candidates? In my view, it more or less conforms to the main Wikipedia:What is a featured article already. What do you think, folks? User:Cmapm 10:11, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==New Samantha Smith Website== http://www.SamanthaSmith.info Visit Forum and share your thoughts and memories of Samantha. ==Typo in letter by Andropov?== The letter contains "I hope that you known about this from your history lessons in school." Did the original letter contain the same? User:Jan van Male 16:02, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I don't know, where the text of the letter was taken from. In online sources known for myself (e.g. [http://schools.lwsd.org/smith/Samantha_Smith.htm]) the typo is present too. Unfortunately, I can't "reach" books mentioned in the ''References'' section or other printed sources to verify this. User:Cmapm 16:55, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I've just found out, that the letter in the article is not the original letter from Andropov - the sense is the same, nothing seems to be omitted or added, but its syntax differs. However, this letter is cited by solid sources, therefore it is not a hoax. My guess for this is that it is a translated back to English Russian text of this letter from Pravda. Few excerpts from the original letter (the image is "cut" from the right side a bit, however) can be found here [http://amerikids.com/lgsam.htm]. And what approves that namely these excerpts are from the original is a photo of Samantha with this letter in her hand [http://www.komsomolfilms.com/samlettersmall.jpg] - letters there are nearly invisible, but by lengths of the words your can see, that it is true. I think, that the original letter in English can be found in Samantha's book, if someone will be so lucky to get it, please, place here the original letter! User:Cmapm 22:39, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Time magazine?== The following my latest addition ''Later Samantha's mother told, how all the story began exactly. After Andropov became the Soviet leader the main American newspapers and magazines had his portrait on their covers and leading articles dedicated to him with rather negative view on this event and expectations of new threats to the world. One of them met Samantha's eyes. Her question was: if all people are so afraid of him, why no one writes a letter, asking whether he wants to have a war or not? Her mother replied: "Why don't you?"'' is a summary of an excerpt from Jane Smith's interview, which she gave, during her visit to Artek in 2000 as a honorary guest, to one of Russian newspapers [http://artekovetc.gurzuf.ru/press6.html]. There is said concretely: it was the "Times" (not concreticized, whether newspaper or magazine) with Andropov's portrait on its cover, that met Samantha's eyes. However "The Times" is UK newspaper and the word cover (well, at least its Russian equivalent) is not generally used for newspapers, rather it is for magazines. Therefore, my guess is that it was a pretty popular in the USA at that time "Time" magazine and, guessing further, it may well be its November 22 1982 issue with the leading article "A Mix of Caution and Opportunism " and Andropov's photo on its cover with the caption: "Andropov Takes Command" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601821129,00.html]. User:Cmapm 00:01, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) The first my guess was true: I've just found Samantha's mother's another interview as of August 5 2004 in another Russian newspaper, where Jane Smith says it was "Time" magazine (in Russian: журнал "Тайм") with Andropov's portrait on its cover [http://www.mk.ru/numbers/1209/article36241.htm]. I'll include this info into the article in a while. User:Cmapm 13:38, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) There were no other Time issues with Andropov's portrait on their covers between October 1982 and January 1983. Therefore, all my guesses proved to be true. User:Cmapm 13:48, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Lime Street== I have this and am not sure where to put it. User:PMA 15:09, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :What a nice image! But... There always are two problems: the source and copyright status. For example, at the present I have 19 nice images of Samantha, including that of faximile "I stand for peace", written by her hand. But for all of them either the source is unknown or copyright status is not more than "Fair use". But one "Fair use" image is already present, it would be good, if the second image should be one. And a personal question:where did you get this image from? May be you even can point out, where ''Lime street'' (4 episodes, it seems) in VHS or DVD format could be found? User:Cmapm 15:50, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- You have to love the red-white thing Sam is wearing - so mid-1980s fashion :) Don't know where to get copies of the show though. Anyway i enquired on a forum at TV Tome and got this: ::''Originally the plan was to continue the series without Samantha. But after a few more episodes were shot it became clear it wasn't going to work. So ultimately the series did end production because of her death, but it took those additional episodes without her to convince everyone that going on was not a wise decision. Actually the plan was to add another daughter. Not to recast Samantha's part, however. Her character, Elizabeth, was going to go off to live with her mother in Paris, while another daughter who'd been living with the mother was then going to move back to Virginia with her father. The characters name was going to be Libby, and several scripts were written with the character but never filmed.'' By the way isn't Libby one of the many nicknames for Elizabeth? User:PMA 16:04, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::Thanks! And it seems, I found where this image should fit best: Lime Street article (I'll start it in the future, if no one will). But only if its source and CP status will be clarified. User:Cmapm 16:15, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==In tribute (USSR)== The only reference to a rose named after her that I've found is Samantha's bio at the IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0809858/bio]. In contrast, at least two references [http://www.dahlia55.h1.ru/html/catalogue_my_dahlia.html], [http://common.narod.ru/pribalt/343.html], second of them with a photo, are to the dahlia, named after Samantha Smith. As the color of that cultivar of dahlia is rose, there is a possibility, that the dahlia was confused with the rose, so, I'll replace "roses" with "dahlias". I'll add a passenger ship, named after her as well, an English reference to this fact is [http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1016-04.htm], there are also many Russian references to it, the ship is the Ukraine property at the present. User:212.199.249.206 09:26, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC) (aka User:Cmapm) I remember a tree planted as a tribute to Samantha in my school yard in Vladikavkaz. The tree is still there, by the entrance of the school #7. I believe, similar things happened in really many places. - User:Slavik IVANOV 10:58, 18 May 2005 (UTC) == Great article... == But wouldn't it have made more sense to lobby for it to be Featured Article on Samantha Smith Day (first Monday in June)? User:Ral315 :It seems, that generally, FA appearance on the Main Page usually is not bound to any specific date, I think it is a good policy by wiki admins. Actually, time proved, that this article was pretty raw, when I proposed to nominate it as a FA candidate and in that time I thought it would never be even featured. But thanks to the people, who edited/copyedited the article, it undergone major work since then and finally became featured and even "Main Paged" one. User:Cmapm 11:11, 11 May 2005 (UTC) I have deleted the rubbish posted in this page. It is really offensive. *Not nearly as offensive as your lack of couth in unilaterally deleting an article voted by Wikipedia editors as a Featured Article. Fortunately, deleted material is readily restored. Please take some time to learn the protocols here before you go off half-cocked again. User:DenniUser_talk:Denni 01:47, 2005 May 10 (UTC) ::Actually Denni, the anon removed a highly offensive comment which a previous editor had replaced the page with. While it would have been preferable for the anon to have reverted to a good page, they should be commended for helping.-User:Gadfium 01:51, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == Why TV? == I was just wondering if someone had run across any info on why S.S. made the move to TV but didn't include it in the article for whatever reason. She could have made good money from appearances at peace rallies and speaking tours and such, why do a TV show? Was this something that she wanted to do from the start or was it just some producer's idea to draw more viewers to the show? User:Dismas 06:24, 10 May 2005 (UTC) :I've seen somewhere, that she wanted to become both veterinary surgeon and ballet-dancer before the "Journey", but after it her preference changed in favor of an actress's career. I'll say more on this, when I find that source again. User:Cmapm 11:11, 11 May 2005 (UTC) == Irina Tarnopolsky? == Apparently a Soviet child, inspired by Samantha Smith, wrote to Andropov to ask for her father's release from the gulag, but without sucess. Is this relevant to the article? http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/030213/Opinion_fault.asp https://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-charen021003.asp User:Rast 09:27, May 10, 2005 (UTC) :Not really? --User:OldakQuill User_talk:OldakQuill 22:57, 10 May 2005 (UTC) :It seems, that a "root" of this is a book “Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First,” by Mrs. Mona Charen. In my view, an extreme POV is present even in its title and a "useful idiot" is rather Mrs. Mona Charen herself. However, as (citing Andropov's letter) Samantha's letter was among "many others that have reached me [Andropov] recently from your country [USA] and from other countries around the world", Irina Tarnopolsky could well write her letter indeed. Again, in my view, if someone will find more info about her (including quotes from her letter), an article about Irina Tarnopolsky should be created and/or a mention of her should probably be present here. User:Cmapm 11:25, 11 May 2005 (UTC) == Troll At Work? == I looked at this article out of curiosity and noticed that some troll had added "pooped in her pants" to the Early Years section. I went in to edit it, and found it didn't exist. I went back to the standard view, and the text was there again. Not sure how this is being done - VB script maybe, or some exploit of a flaw. I have created a PDF of the page in case anyone else DOESN'T see the same effect... It's a shame when the morons feel the need to deface a valuable resource like Wikipedia, IMHO. :By the time you loaded the editable version the vandalism was probably removed. When you refer back to the final product you are looking at the previous cached version. If you use IE press Ctrl + F5 --User:OldakQuill User_talk:OldakQuill 22:59, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == End of the Cold War == She would have lived to see the end of the Cold War. In addition, she would have become the U.S. ambassador to Russia. - User:John-1107--Ed Telerionus 17:41, 10 May 2005 (UTC) == Катя Лычева == What about Катя Лычева (Katya Lychova ''or'' Lycheva)? She has been the Soviet child-ambassador in the 1980s, and I remember how popular she was here, in USSR. I think she's worth mentioning in this article, but, alas, I can't do it myself. - User:Slavik IVANOV 10:58, 18 May 2005 (UTC) :Yes, she was popular, but as I know, the peak of her popularity was shortly after Samantha's death (1986-1987 ??). She was a sort of a "Soviet answer" to the USA on Samantha's mission. Katya went to the USA (I have a photo of her and Ronald Reagan), starred in the Russian film for children. :However, it seems, that she was not as popular in the USSR as Samantha (I don't know for the USA). There is also some controversy concerning her (rumours about high-ranking parents, some unpleasant memoirs of those, who were in Artek together with her concerning her haughty character). Some people consider her "pale shadow" of Samantha. :It would be great to create a separate article about her and place here a link. While it does not exist, I could add some info about her here , but my English is too bad for a Featured Article :-( User:Cmapm 12:12, 18 May 2005 (UTC)
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