Samantha Smith was born on June 29, 1972, in the small town of
Houlton, Maine, on the
Canada–United States border, to Jane Goshorn and Arthur Smith. At the age of five, she wrote a letter to
Queen Elizabeth II (whose
reign's silver jubilee fell in 1977) to express her admiration to the
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 before teaching literature and writing at the
University of Maine at Augusta while her mother worked as a
social worker with the Maine Department of Human Services. In November 1982, when Smith was 10, she wrote to Soviet leader
Yuri Andropov, seeking to understand why
Soviet Union–United States relations were so tense: Her letter was published in the Soviet state-run newspaper
Pravda. 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. On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov: 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, 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, the main Soviet
pioneer camp, in the town of
Gurzuf on the
Crimean Peninsula. Speaking at a Moscow press conference, she declared that the Russians were "just like us". In Artek, Smith chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than accept the privileged accommodations offered to her. Smith shared a dormitory with nine other girls, and spent her time there swimming, talking and learning Russian songs and dances. While there, she made many friends, including Natasha Kashirina from Leningrad, a fluent English speaker. "Morskoy" Andropov, however, was unable to meet with her during her visit, 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 It was later discovered that Andropov had become seriously ill and had withdrawn from the public eye during this time. 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 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. In December 1983, continuing in her role as "America's Youngest Ambassador", she was invited to Japan, 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". Her trip inspired other exchanges of child goodwill ambassadors, including a visit by the eleven-year-old Russian child
Katya Lycheva to the United States. Later, Smith wrote a book called
Journey to the Soviet Union whose cover shows her at Artek, Smith pursued her role as a media celebrity when in 1984, billed as a "Special Correspondent", she hosted a children's special for
The Disney Channel entitled ''Samantha Smith Goes To Washington... Campaign '84
. 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 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. In 1985, she played the co-starring role of the elder daughter to
Robert Wagner's character in the television series
Lime Street. ==Death==