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Mar 25, 2006
"Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve." --Robert Lewin
A Pen Pal for Peace
In the early 80s when America was still in the grip of the Cold War a ten-year-old girl named Samantha Smith wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov, the new leader of the Soviet Union: “Dear Mr. Andropov,” she wrote, “I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to have a war or not? If you aren't, please tell me how you are going to help not have a war...” A few months later she received a warm personal note from Andropov and an invitation to visit his country. Overnight Samantha became a symbol of peace for two nations. After her highly publicized trip to the Soviet Union, she spoke at world forums, wrote a book about her journey and even interviewed presidential candidates before her untimely death in 1985. More than twenty years later her message of peace continues to shine.