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People magazine selects Ed Smart as 2007 hero

I'm so glad that there are people like Ed Smart in this world. I also think he's hero for everything that he's doing to help children. Keep up the good work Ed!

Wonderful. Making lemonade out of lemons. I admire this family and their strength, I wish Elizabeth all the future joy and success humanly possible. We have all learned a great deal by seeing the family's unquenchable spirit while under extreme duress. Bless you all.

It's not my intention to be mean spirited with this post. That being said, I don't understand why Ed Smart is always the hero. Why not his wife and the rest of his children. Didn't they also endure the same agony as Ed? And why not Elizabeth Smart. She is the one that was kidnapped and held for such a long time. Why isn't she being honored as the hero. Ed is just to much of publicity hound for me to call him a hero.

Much deserved Mr. Smart!

SLC Native, nice job making lemons out of lemonade.

Good job Ed Smart and family. Nothing could be more important than the work you are doing. How do we sign up to help?

Ed Smart is considered a hero because of all the work he's done to help missing kids. I assume Lois has been busy raising their kids so she's probably not interested in being a hero. And Elizabeth is not a hero. I'm not being mean when I say that, I'm just stating a fact. Being kidnapped and held captive does not make you a hero, it makes you a survivor. That's what Elizabeth is-a survivor. Ed isn't a publicity hound, he's helping to get laws passed to protect children. He doesn't hold press conferences, the reporters come up to him and ask him questions. He doesn't ask for the publicity. But he obviously wants to talk about the laws he's endorsing to get support for those laws. What's wrong with that?

I don't buy any of this. I wish the Smarts would just go away. They are not heroes.

To "anonymous", I think you're quite a protagonist. It would be horrible if your child, or niece, or nephew were kidnapped and you mocked the very person trying to prevent that. Perhaps you should keep your negative comments to yourself

My guess is that Ed Smart is, in fact, a publicity hound, for all of the right reasons (Britney Spears: take note). When your child is missing, people like Ed will tell you that keeping your kid's name and face in the news is a top priority.

And when you're trying to get important legislation passed like he is, the more publicity the better.

Truth is, his story grated on me for a while 5 years ago, but as the face of organizations trying to do good things (think John Walsh and America's Most Wanted), I have come to admire him and his family.

I don't understand how you could not support someone who is trying to protect children. The entire Smart family deserve positive recognition, however it is Ed who is the front runner in pushing to get laws changed, I thank him for that & pray that I never have to endure such a trial. Thank you Ed.

I think it's just amazing how you can go on any story in these comment sections (or the editorial section of the newspaper) and people end up fighting about something. You're always going to find differnces and that doesn't mean that you have to give in on your own opinion or that you have to be publicaly humiliated but we can be kind to all people. The world needs to look for the good in all people and stop looking for the negative.

I personally am grateful that there are people like Ed Smart out there. As a father of 4 children, I can't imagine what I would be going through if one of my children were abducted. I believe that the more Ed Smarts there are in the world, the better we all are. He is a hero in my book.

I applaud Ed Smart and his family. Many of us aren't in a position to spend the time he is toward such worthy ends. We have to go to a job day after day. I appreciate that he is willing to use his resources and time in pursuit of protecting children.

Congratulations to an honor well deserved. They didn't give up in their search for her. If it hadn't been for her family contacting John Walsh, who knows when they would have found her. The police discouraged them from going public with updated info on her abductors, but thankfully they followed their hearts and did what they knew was right. The result, they got her back!!!!! Many lessons were learned from this experience. Hopefully law enforcement all over will now know how to handle these types of cases. Best wishes to a wonderful family. I"n sure her family wishes this had never happened and that they were never in the spotlight, but they've dealt with it admirably. they've used their pain and suffering to try and prevent others from going through the same torment.

Not a huge fan of Ed Smart. Just wanted to put in my 2 cents.

I don't imagine Ed Smart is concerned about making "fans" anyway. He did what he knew to get his daughter back, and is doing what he knews to get things changed for the better. And yes, his daughter is a hero too. She endured and survived. And I've yet to meet a man in service, that didn't have a great women (whether a wife or mother or friend) by their side in one way or another. So that would make his wife a hero too.

I admire the Smart family. I was hoping Ed would do something for children, after what happened to his daughter, and I am very happy to see that he has.

I lived in California at the time. Two girls down there had been kidnapped and both found dead. I though Ed Smart was a nut for holding out hope.

When I heard on the radio that they found Elizabeth alive, I called my wife to tell her. I started crying thinking about my two daughters. I pulled to the side of the road and said a prayer for his family.

In a sick world, I am thankful for people with the faith of the Smart Family.

My gratitude to Ed. for trying to make this world a little safer for everyones children.