Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Smith.
Hi Linda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in England and moved with my mother, brother and sister to Canada at age 11 to escape an abusive father. He eventually found us in Toronto and was on his way to kill us all when the police, who were warned of his intent, stopped him and jailed him for carrying a loaded gun. He was eventually deported back to England and we never saw him again. I am a former Canadian actress, model, dancer, and singer and landed a nationally televised variety show as lead dancer in the late 60’s and 70’s. At age 23, I married Canadian entertainer of the year Glenn Smith. After marriage, we became residents of the US living and performing on the Las Vegas strip.
Three years later, heavily pregnancy, on a junket flight to Toronto from Las Vegas, I went into labor and shortly after the plane landed gave birth to my firstborn Christopher. He was born with Down syndrome and later disabilities. (Fortuitously, the junket flight was filled with medical practitioners on a fun weekend to Vegas. I was in good hands!)
Christopher’s birth was a shock and soon after giving birth, I was told I would be better off if I gave him away! “put him in an institution, he will be better off. Besides, he isn’t going to live very long.” I was basically told to throw my son away. Of course, I didn’t follow this advice and we took him home from the hospital into the loving care of our Canadian family and ourselves. Compounding the problems that come with the birth of a child born with disabilities, I soon found that I couldn’t get him into the United States.
There are laws that determine who can and cannot immigrate into the US, and regardless of the fact that we had become legal residents and citizens of the US, our baby boy fell into an exclusionary class of individuals, second in line to convicted felons. It’s a long story, but after 17 years we finally got him legal in the US. As a baby, reaching out to celebrity friends and connections, and after becoming activists for the disabled, we got Vice President Hubert Humphrey to be Christophers’ sponsor. Humphrey died when Chris was eight years old and we were told to take Chris back to Canada and apply for residency from there. We didn’t do that and harbored an illegal alien in our home (our own child) until gaining legal status at age 17. Chris became an American at age 17, on stage, at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel with prominent celebrities and politicians handing him the American flag.
On moving to Las Vegas with Christopher, I changed vocations, eventually divorced Glenn and married a business leader and Wyoming rancher and cowboy. Along the way, I became a fundraiser for the disabled raising over a half a billion dollars in charity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Overcoming adversity is both a challenge and an opportunity and from my early beginnings, I had to make lemonade out of lemons. As they say, “smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” Adversity can have many positive effects on our lives. I was certainly handed curveballs in both my personal and professional life, but again, what doesn’t kill you makes you strong. Easy situations rarely improve skills and challenging situations often provide the best lessons. I dropped out of high school to pursue my acting career and so most lessons were earned by the seat of my pants.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most known for my fundraising acumen and for my disability activism. I have authored two books outlining my journey with my son Christopher titled “UNWANTED” and CONFESSIONS OF A SIN CITY FUNDRAISER,” I am proud to have become a charity disrupter. I broke all molds and did things my way. Once an uneducated entertainer, I became a respected business leader and author who changed the way Las Vegas views philanthropy while gaining acceptance for some of the most disenfranchised humans amongst us. I am a nonprofit consultant now with clients across the US and parts of the globe.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I am an avid reader and enjoy biographical stories of human experience, courage, overcoming adverse conditions. A favorite book is Endurance, the story in polar explorer Ernest Shackleton who boarded the Endurance in 1914 and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day’s sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. There are many lessons to be learned from books like Endurance, the least of which is human resilience. I also enjoy historical fiction.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lindaslife.com
- Instagram: livelindaslife
- Facebook: lindasmith
- Twitter: livelindaslife
