The Interviews

West Battle Lake, Minnesota. August 1990.

During summer 1990, my wife, Kathy, and I were enjoying lake life in Minnesota and busy preparing for a second international teaching adventure. This time it would be Saudi Arabia. Having spent four years teaching in Colombia, we sloughed off questions from friends and family like, “Is it safe?” We had no idea our Andy Warhol moment and fifteen minutes of local fame was a “Breaking News” headline away.

On August 2, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army invaded Kuwait, setting off a series of events that eventually led to the Gulf War in 1991. Lying just south from Kuwait are the massive Saudi oilfields and vital to the USA’s energy dependence on oil. The world was quickly alarmed that Hussein would march down the coast of the Arabian Gulf and snatch the oilfields. Our new school in Jubail was smack dab in the path. Within days, the U.S. military mobilized a force to counteract a possible invasion. While Americans and other Western families were fleeing Saudi Arabia in droves, we lobbied school administrators hard over the phone to hold positions for us. Within a  few days, we learned of a transfer across the Kingdom to Asir Academy, 800 miles from the action. We were relieved, mostly that we still had employment!

Local television stations in Fargo, ND and Alexandria, MN picked up on our unique situation. We did a whirlwind four interviews in one day. With help from friends, we videotaped three interviews that evening and pieced together a compilation with fuzzy video and bad editing. 1990 was a time of cultural icons like VCRs, perm hairstyles, mustaches, slide projectors, and fold-out paper maps. There was no internet, YouTube, iPhones, or selfie sticks to create your own story. Our 15 minutes of local fame faded quickly but recently re-discovered in a box of old VHS tapes.

The Interviews

Teaching in war-threatened nations is nothing new for Kathy Love and Brad Latzke.
Bob McClintick, Fergus Falls Daily Journal reporter