Pamela Smart - Early Life

Early Life

Pamela Ann Wojas was born in Coral Gables, Florida. She is the second of three children, with her sister Elizabeth, six years older, and her brother John, three years younger. Her father worked as a commercial airline pilot, while her mother worked part-time as a legal secretary.

When she was in elementary school, she moved with her family to Windham, New Hampshire. Smart went to high school at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, where she was a cheerleader. After high school she went to college at Florida State University and graduated with honors with a communications degree in 1988 in a little more than three years, with an accomplished 3.85 grade point average. During her college radio career, Smart combined her passion for heavy metal music with her career aspirations. She hosted a one-night-a-week radio show at WVFS that she called “Metal Madness", using the alias "Maiden of Metal".

Pamela Wojas met Gregory Smart at a 1986 New Year's Eve party. They formed a serious relationship in February 1987 and married two years later. They shared a passion for heavy metal music. Greg bought her a Shih Tzu and she named it "Halen" after her favorite rock group Van Halen. Seven months into the Smarts' marriage, they began having serious problems in their relationship. She took a job as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire. Smart met Winnacunnet High School student Billy Flynn at "Project Self-Esteem," a local drug awareness program at the school, in which both were volunteers. She was able to impress him with her interest in heavy metal music. Smart also met another intern named Cecilia Pierce who was friends with Billy Flynn. Flynn, a sophomore, was always going out of his way to be helpful during the sessions and also visited Smart every day in her office.