Published: October 05, 2009 08:43 pm         

Ms.Takes: I’m wondering what the bin Ladens saw in Indiana

Have I got a book for you!

The problem is that I don’t know the name of it, when it was published, or where you might buy or borrow a copy. The attraction is that it offers a tourist’s impression of Indiana from a point of view we aren’t apt to get anywhere else.

The book, written by Najwa bin Laden, the first wife of Osama bin Laden, is a travelogue of a trip to which Osama treated his wife and son some 30 years ago. I read about her book in an all-too-brief clipping from an out-of town newspaper sent by a friend from Pennsylvania. Except that the clipping noted that the tour included both Los Angeles and Indiana, nothing more definite was included.

I suppose Osama decided where to go and what to see. He has hardly been a charter member of the women’s liberation movement in Saudi Arabia. Even if he did consult Najwa, I doubt if she would have had any interest in going to Miami, even if it included a luxury hotel. She’d have looked and felt out of place lounging around on the beach wearing a veil and burka while all around her young women were frolicking about in bikinis. Maybe Miami would have been Osama’s treat for himself? I doubt that he’d buy one for Najwa.

Maybe the young son was allowed some input into travel plans. Thirty years ago a trip to Los Angeles and Disneyland might have been a young boy’s dream. Perhaps the budget would have included a tour of the Disney studios. If only he had waited a couple of years the Disney spread in Florida would have provided an opportunity to meet Mickey Mouse in person — along with Donald Duck, Snow White and Cinderella.

So typical sites aside, what was the attraction of Indiana? Thirty years ago Indiana University was a basketball powerhouse and maybe the kid was a sports fan? Or how about the Indy 500 track? Maybe Osama is the kind of guy who likes the fast track kind of life with the wind blowing through his beard? It couldn’t have had anything to do with agriculture. The chance of producing a bumper crop of corn, peaches or melons in the desert seems unlikely.

Maybe the mobile home industry in Northern Indiana held hope of a business venture in affordable housing more appealing than a tent in the desert. Who knows?

That’s why I’d like to read Najwa’s book. If I can find more information, I'll keep you posted.



Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to pinion@tribstar.com.