Samantha Smith liked letters.
In the summer of 1977, a schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine, wrote a letter to the Queen of England congratulating her on 25 years on the throne.
She received a reply from the queen’s lady-in-waiting, thanking her for taking the trouble.
In April 1983, Samantha, now 10 years old, was nervous because Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased the threat of nuclear confrontation, as creator Lena Nelson explains in “America’s Youngest Ambassador: The Cold War Story of Samantha Smith’s Lasting Message” room (Down East Books).
At the urging of her mother, Jane, Smith picked up the pen again and wrote to the latest leader of the Soviet Union, General Secretary Yuri Andropov.
“Congratulations (sic) in your latest job,” she wrote.
“I used to be nervous that Russia and the United States would go right into a nuclear war (sic). . . Are you going to vote for war or not?
Concluding her “P.S. Please Write Back” letter, Samantha went to the post office along with her father Arthur, sending her letter to the Kremlin in Moscow, despite the fact that, as Nelson writes, she was “surprised that a postage stamp for a letter to the Soviet Union cost forty cents as a substitute of the usual twenty.”
From that moment on, the Smiths’ lives would never be the same again.
When news reached the family that her letter had been published in the Russian state newspaper Pravda, local, national and international media suddenly wanted to know more about the girl they dubbed “America’s youngest ambassador.”
“There have been TV crews from England, Australia, Germany and Bulgaria. The photographer got here from Paris to take pictures of the family on the porch. The Soviets also sent their television crew, after receiving special permission to go to Manchester, writes Nelson.
“When the American crews heard that the Soviets were coming to film Sam, they wanted to film the Soviets.”
By April 25, a letter got here from Andropov himself, during which he told her about his desire for world peace and invited her and her family to Russia.
“While Jane and Arthur were skeptical about the Soviet leader’s true intentions, they felt the message sounded real,” writes Nelson.
Soon, every TV station was fighting for an interview.
She appeared on “Nightline” with Ted Koppel and flew to Los Angeles to appear on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” (she got a visit to Disneyland as a part of the deal).
In July, the family launched into a two-week visit to the Soviet Union, visiting Moscow, Leningrad and the Artek Soviet pioneer camp.
She flew to Japan to speak at the twenty first Century Kid’s International Symposium in Kobe, even learned a bit of Japanese for her speech, and covered interviews with presidential candidates from Washington for the Disney Channel.
There was a cameo role in an episode of the latest TV show “Charles In Charge” with “Glad Days” actor Scott Baio – and even in the latest ABC series “Lime Street” opposite “Hart to Hart” star Robert Wagner.
“Sam had no idea who Robert Wagner was,” writes Nelson.
But the tragedy happened on August 25, 1985.
After a visit to London, England to film an episode of “Lime Street”, Samantha and her father were on the final leg of their journey home as the plane prepared to land at a small regional airport in Auburn-Lewiston, Maine.
The plane’s approach was too low and too fast in fog and light rain. While pruning a number of poplars lower than a mile from the runway, it hit the ground almost the wrong way up and eventually got here to rest in a ravine.
All eight people on board were killed, including Samantha and her father.
She was only 13 years old.
The subsequent day, Jane Smith read the statement outside her home.
“Samantha couldn’t accept the inhumanity of man to man,” she said.
“She stood firm in her belief that humanity could achieve and maintain peace“.
Meanwhile, on August 27, a Western Union telegram from Santa Barbara, California, arrived at her home. “Nancy and I are deeply saddened by the news of your great loss. Beloved husband and only daughter passed away with shocking suddenness.
“Samantha – her smile, her idealism, her untouched sweetness of spirit. Nancy joins me in sending my deepest sympathy. May God bless you and comfort you. Ronald Reagan.”
There was also a telegram from the latest Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev.
“Samantha shone like a vivid ray of sunshine,” he wrote, “at a time when relations between our two countries were clouded.”
Samantha’s work was not in vain.
In October 1985, two months after the plane crash, Jane Smith founded the Samantha Smith Foundation, a company dedicated to promoting greater understanding between the peoples of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Politicians have also raised the bar.
A month later, almost three years after Samantha Smith wrote the letter to the Kremlin, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva, Switzerland, agreeing to intensify discussions between the superpowers.
“Soviet and American leaders approached one another with outstretched hands and began the dialogue that may end the Cold War,” writes Nelson.
In December 1986, the Maine State Library and Museum dedicated a full-size bronze statue of Samantha Smith in front of the state capitol constructing. The golden plaque tells the story of her short but spectacular life.
Samantha’s premature death at the age of 13 in a plane crash was mourned by adults and children around the world.
“Maine is happy with her native daughter, and we remember the message she taught us: one child can play a robust role in bringing peace to the world.”