Edward Ksara was born in 1937 in Morocco, the third of four children. He has two older sisters, Elizabeth and Dorothy, and a younger sister, Ruth. His father, Mehdi, was born in Morocco, too, and was raised Muslim but later converted to Christianity and became a Christian missionary. His mother, Pauline, was born in Arizona and came to live in Morocco because her father was a missionary.

Mehdi, Pauline and the four children fled Morocco in 1940 when the Germans invaded Poland and France. Ksara describes it as a “chaotic” and “fearful” time. The family settled in Huntington, Pennsylvania. When the war was over, the family made plans to return to Morocco and lived in Tamara. But Pauline longed to return to the States, and when Ksara was 14 the family planned to return to America.

Pauline and her children loved the States and didn’t have much trouble getting acclimated, but the same couldn’t be said for Ksara’s father. Mehdi and Pauline split up during Ksara’s teen years when his father returned by himself to Morocco.

Ksara later met his wife-to-be, Janice, who grew up in Springfield, while the two attended the University of Arkansas. They later raised 3 children: Kristen and the twins Ellen and Elaine.

He taught history for over 30 years and retired in 1994.

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Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.