She became so famous that she started to get offers from the entertainment world. In 1984 she hosted an election special for kids on the Disney Channel called Samantha Smith Goes to Washington where she interviewed George McGovern and presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. In 1985 she was cast on Lime Street, an ABC drama starring Robert Wagner as an international insurance fraud investigator; Samantha played his daughter.
THE TRAGEDY
In August 1985, just after filming the fifth episode of the series, Samantha and her father were aboard a six-passenger plane flying into Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport, near their home in Maine. Bad weather, piloting errors, and incorrect directions from an air traffic control tower caused the plane to crash in a field. There were no survivors. Samantha was 13 years old.
Condolences came from the highest levels of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. governments. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sent a personal letter to Samantha’s mother, Jane Smith. So did President Ronald Reagan. “Perhaps you can take some measure of comfort in the knowledge that millions of Americans, indeed millions of people, share the burdens of your grief,” he wrote. “They also will cherish and remember Samantha, her smile, her idealism and unaffected sweetness of spirit.”
Earliest known use of giving someone “the finger”: Aristophanes’ play The Clouds (423 BC).
THE LEGACY
The Russians memorialized Samantha in a number of different ways: A postage stamp was issued in her honor and a giant diamond discovered in Siberia was named after her, as were a new breed of flower, an asteroid discovered by a Russian astronomer (3147 Samantha), and the Young Pioneer Camp she’d visited in 1983.
In the United States, elementary schools in Sammamish, Washington, and Jamaica, New York, were named for her. By decree of the Maine state legislature, the first Monday of June in Maine is Samantha Smith Day. A lifesize bronze statue of Samantha holding a dove, with a bear cub at her feet holding an American flag, now stands at the Maine state library. The bear is a symbol for Russia; the dove is a symbol for peace.
In 1986 Jane Smith started the Samantha Smith Foundation. Its mission was to send American children on friendly exchange trips to Russia. More than 1,000 kids went before Smith laid the organization to rest in 1995. After Gorbachev’s , followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the director of the foundation, Donna Brustad, told a reporter, “I think the work that the foundation was originally formed to do has been done.”Glasnost freedom reforms in the late 1980s
THE CLASSIFIEDS
• Easygoing athletic SJM, 41, seeking SF, looks not important, must be tall, slim and attractive.
• Nemesis Wanted: I’m 5'10", into kayaking, books, and conversation (by day), justice, honor, and vengeance (by night). Seeking arch-enemy, possibly crimelord or deformed megalomaniac.
• PIG! I saw you at Tiki Bobs. You grabbed my butt and I told you if you did that again I’d kill you. You did. I need your address now.
• This large personal ad cost $340 to run. Needless to say, on our first date, we’ll be going dutch.
Only American to be both a Navy admiral and an Army general: Samuel P. Carter (1860s).
“HEALTH” “FOOD”
We put quotes around both words because these actual products barely qualify as either.
SIZE MATTERS. In 2007 a Japanese company introduced a line of snack food to help women become “more feminine,” which is ad-speak for “grow bigger boobs.” The bust-enhancing treats include F-Cup Cookies, F-Cup Cakes, and F-Cup Pudding cups. The snacks all contain Pueraria mirifica—a plant containing phytoestrogens, which are sometimes marketed as natural breast enhancers. Hopeful women will have to decide for themselves if a larger cup size is worth the reported side effects: giddiness, vomiting, diarrhea, and, as one user reported, “the uncomfortable feeling of going through puberty again.”
A BEACH-READY BOD. Rodial, maker of Brazilian Tan products, has introduced a new way to get ready for the beach: Skinny Beach Sticks—a diet drink that’s high in beta carotene, which, Rodial claims, somehow offers protection against UV rays, and “a slim, toned, ready-to tan body.” (Word of warning: Beta carotene is what makes carrots orange, peppers red, and flamingos pink.)
GIVE ME S’MORE. Considering collagen injections? Marshmallows could become the new skin-plumpers of choice. Every packet of Eiwa Grapefruit Collagen Marshmallows contains 3,500 mg of collagen, which, the manufacturer claims, offers the same benefits as injections but without the pain. Dermatologists at the British Skin Foundation find no scientific evidence that consuming collagen works the way injecting it does, but marshmallows do have one advantage: They can be squished between two graham crackers and topped with chocolate.
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME. Another Japanese innovation: a deodorant in the form of chewing gum. Fuwarinka Scented Gum reportedly freshens the breath and causes the body to secrete the scent of roses from the pores. According to the manufacturer, gum chewers smell “as fresh and clean as a spring garden” for up to six hours.
The world’s first dental school opened at the University of Maryland in 1840.
RAISE YOUR GLASS
... to these spirited quotes about libations.
“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
—Ernest Hemingway
“Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”
—Dave Barry
“I’m not a heavy drinker; I can sometimes go for hours without touching a drop.”
—Noël Coward
“No animal ever invented anything so bad as drunkenness—or so good as drink.”
—Lord Chesterton
“Whoever takes just plain ginger ale soon gets drowned out of the conversation.”
—Kin Hubbard
“Health: what my friends are always drinking to before they fall down.”
—Phyllis Diller
“One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough.”
—James Thurber
“Beer is not a good cocktail-party drink, especially in a home where you don’t know where the bathroom is.”
—Billy Carter
“I’ve stopped drinking, but only while I’m asleep.”
—George Best
“Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness.”
—Seneca
“I know I’m drinking myself to a slow death, but then I’m in no hurry.”
—Robert Benchley
“I drink to make other people interesting.”
—George Jean Nathan
“If you are young and you drink a great deal it will spoil your health, slow your mind, make you fat—in other words, turn you into an adult.”
—P. J. O’Rourke
Liquid diet: A leech can consume 10 times its own weight in blood.
CONSTITUTIONAL Q&A
The United States is one of the most stable countries in world history. It’s gone almost 250 years without a government collapse, due in part to the U.S. Constitution, which explicitly lays out how the federal government is to be run, with procedures for making laws, electing the president, electing Congress, etc. It’s interesting to see what provisions the Constitution made (and didn’t make) for some unlikely scenarios.
SCENARIO #1: All senior officials die
The Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 specify who takes over if the president resigns, dies, or is removed from office. The first in line is the vice president, but if he or she is unavailable, the job goes to the Speaker of the House, and after that, the President pro tem of the Senate. The line of succession then extends to cabinet secretaries: secretary of state, then secretary of treasury, secretary of defense, attorney general, and so on down to the secretary of homeland security, the 18th and last person in line. Historically, no one below the vice president has ev
er been called on, but a cabinet department head having to take over isn’t that far-fetched. That’s why every year, just before the president gives the State of the Union address in the same building with both houses of Congress, the vice president, and all cabinet secretaries, he names one of those officers as the “designated survivor,” to stay in another location. In 2011 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was the designated survivor.
SCENARIO #2: The vice president does something really bad
The Constitution says that the vice president (like the president) can be impeached for “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” If this were to happen, the House of Representatives would be responsible for listing the crimes the vice president was accused of committing. The Senate would then try the vice president in a manner very similar to a court of law. There’s one problem: The Constitution states that one of the vice president’s duties is to preside over the Senate. If the vice president were ever impeached, he would be responsible for presiding over his own impeachment. Now, if this ever actually happened, the vice president would most likely resign: That’s what Richard Nixon’s VP Spiro Agnew did when he was facing impeachment for bribery in 1973. But technically, he (or she) doesn’t have to.
Only fictional character with an obituary in the NY Times: Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot. (His death in her last novel won him an article on page 1.)
SCENARIO #3: The VP is in a really tight race for president
As Senate president, the vice president is also tasked with breaking tie votes. Ties in the Senate are rare but critical. In particular, if no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes in a presidential election, the Senate is responsible for deciding who wins. This has happened only once, in 1828. But if it had happened in, say, 2000, and Vice President Al Gore had tied Governor George W. Bush in the electoral college, the Senate would have voted to break the tie...and Gore would almost certainly have voted for himself.
SCENARIO #4: The Speaker of the House isn’t in the House
Every two years, the House of Representatives elects a Speaker as its presiding officer. That person becomes very influential in promoting (or blocking) legislation. Since the days of Washington and Jefferson, the Speaker of the House has been either a respected senior member of Congress or an influential party leader. However, the Constitution doesn’t actually require that the Speaker be chosen from among the members of the House of Representatives. It gives no specifics about who can hold the job. Congress has never clarified the Speaker’s qualifications, either. So by a literal reading of the Constitution, even you could be Speaker.
SCENARIO #5: The president goes nuts
The Constitution is clear on who becomes president in the case of death, impeachment, or resignation, but it’s a little fuzzier regarding insanity. The document states that the president must step down if he is deemed “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Who makes that determination? The Constitution says that it’s either “the vice president and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments” or any “other body as Congress may by law provide.” That means that Congress can form a body of officials to decide whether or not the president is well enough to stay in office. Who would Congress pick? Probably a panel of respected doctors, psychiatrists, and other medical professionals...but they could pick anyone.
FAKE CITY QUIZ
These fictional towns were located in real states...but can you match them to their book, game, movie, or TV show? (Answers on page 542).
1. Delta City, Michigan
a) Starsky & Hutch
2. Maycomb, Alabama
b) A Nightmare on Elm Street
3. Hooterville, Missouri
c) Family Guy
4. Shermer, Illinois
d) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
5. Vice City, Florida
e) The Breakfast Club
6. Frostbite Falls, Minnesota
f) RoboCop
7. Toontown, California
g) In the Heat of the Night
8. Grovers Corners, New Hampshire
h) Fried Green Tomatoes
9. Cicely, Alaska
i) Our Town (play)
10. Springwood, Ohio
j) Grand Theft Auto (video game)
11. Smallville, Kansas
k) To Kill a Mockingbird
12. Whistle Stop, Alabama
l) Superman comics
13. Lake Wobegon, Minnesota
m) The Baby-Sitters Club (book series)
14. Bay City, California
n) Roseanne
15. Sparta, Mississippi
o) Northern Exposure
16. Castle Rock, Maine
p) Stephen King novels
17. Lanford, Illinois
q) A Prairie Home Companion (radio show)
18. Quahog, Rhode Island
r) Petticoat Junction
19. Stoneybrook, Connecticut
s) Rocky and Bullwinkle
Barbie’s hometown, according to Mattel, is Willows, Wisconsin.
TREE-GO-NOMETRY
Have you ever wondered just how tall the tallest tree in your yard is? If you’re afraid to climb all the way to the top, fear not: There’s a way to measure its height without ever leaving the ground.
WHAT YOU NEED
A tape measure and a sunny day. You’re going to estimate the height of the tree by comparing the length of its shadow to the length of your own shadow. And there won’t be any shadows if it’s foggy, overcast, or 2:00 in the morning.
Level ground. The flatter it is, the better your estimate will be.
WHAT TO DO
• Lay the tape measure on the ground and measure your shadow. To keep the math simple, let’s assume your shadow is 9 feet long (108 inches), and you are 6 feet tall (72 inches).
• Measure the tree’s shadow. Let’s say it’s 50 feet long.
• Visualize a triangle created by you, your shadow, and a straight line running from the top of your head to the end of your shadow. Using trigonometry, the study of triangles, you’re going to compare your triangle with the one made by the tree and its shadow.
• The tree’s triangle is the exact same shape as your triangle; only its size is different. That’s because the sun’s rays are coming from the same direction when they create both shadows.
• Because the triangles are the same shape, the ratio of your height to your shadow’s length (72 in. ÷ 108 in. = 0.67) will be the same as the ratio of the tree’s height to its shadow.
• Since your height is 0.67 the length of your shadow, the tree’s height will be 0.67 the length of its shadow. That’s 0.67 x 50 feet = 33.5 feet, so the tree is approximately 33 feet 6 inches tall.
• Why approximately? Because the position of the sun in the sky gradually changes as the Earth rotates. That means the lengths of the shadows are slowly changing too. Take your measurements quickly! The faster you work, the more accurate you’ll be.
More Americans (4.2 million) are employed as retail sales clerks than any other occupation.
BEFORE THEIR TIME
Neil Young sang that it’s “better to burn out than to fade away.” These folks were on their way to making it big before they were 25...and then they died, leaving us wondering what else they would have done.
EDDIE COCHRAN (1938–60)
Cochran was an early star of rock ’n’ roll, who, like Elvis Presley, helped craft the young art form with a combination
of electric guitars and a rockabilly sensibility. He was only 18 when he started his music career, but he was among the first to experiment with studio tricks such as multitrack recording and overdubs on hits like “C’mon Everybody,” “Twenty-Flight Rock,” and the song for which he’s most famous, “Summertime Blues.” In late 1959, Cochran recorded a song called “Three Stars,” about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, and eerily, it would be one of the last songs he ever recorded. In April 1960, he e
mbarked on a European tour. Late one night in London, he was riding in a cab with his girlfriend. The car blew a tire and careened into a light post. Cochran was sitting in the middle of the backseat and apparently tried to block his girlfriend from being thrust forward. But there were no seatbelts then, and when the car hit the post, Cochran flew out the window and died on impact. He was 21.
HANK GATHERS (1967–90)
Only three players ever led college basketball in both scoring and rebounds in the same season. Two of them, Kurt Thomas and Xavier McDaniel, went on to moderately successful NBA careers, but the one who was primed to be a superstar was the third one, Hank Gathers. A 6’7” power forward for Loyola Marymount University in California, Gathers averaged 32.7 points and 13.7 rebounds per game in his 1988–89 junior year. His numbers in the next season were almost as good—29 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. NBA prognosticators predicted that Gathers would be selected high in the 1990 NBA draft, likely in the top ten. Having so promising a future is probably why Gathers kept his health problem a secret. In December 1989, he had collapsed at the free-throw line during a game. While hospitalized, he learned he had an irregular heartbeat, a potentially fatal condition. But Gathers kept on playing, leading LMU to the conference championship tournament. He also stopped taking the medication—a beta blocker—that helped the heart trouble, believing it made him weaker and affected his play. In the first half of a game against the University of Portland on March 4, 1990, Gathers dunked on an alley-oop, and then while running down the court, he staggered and fell. As trainers rushed to his aid, he yelled, “I don’t want to lay down.” Then he stopped breathing. He died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He was 23.
Uncle John’s 24-Karat Gold Bathroom Reader® Page 49