Chief Sealth IHS gets post-Oscars visit from ‘Argo’ inspiration

The day after “Argo” won the Oscar for Best Picture, one of the six “house guests” whose story it tells was in West Seattle, visiting Chief Sealth International High School, at the invitation of teacher Patrice De La Ossa, Ph.D., who shares photos and a report:

“Argo,” anyone? Mark Lijek, one of the real house guests from “Argo,” visited the IB World History Seniors at Chief Sealth International High School today for Q&A after viewing the film last week. Dr. De La Ossa reached out to Mark Lijek, who resides in Washington, and got lucky!

But today, so did her students. Mark met with the seniors and told his personal story, then answered questions from the curious seniors about his ordeal, his continued career in Foreign Services, and how he felt about the film, which just won Best Picture.

Mark Lijek and his wife Cora Amburn-Lijek live in the Skagit County city of Anacortes. Our partners at The Seattle Times told their story last fall, a few weeks after they were flown to the “Argo” premiere in Hollywood. In 1979, when they were embassy employees in Tehran at the time of the hostage crisis, the two were in their mid-20s and had been married four years.

9 Replies to "Chief Sealth IHS gets post-Oscars visit from 'Argo' inspiration"

  • Dee February 26, 2013 (6:46 am)

    Thanks doc.

  • The Velvet Bulldog February 26, 2013 (7:52 am)

    What a wonderful opportunity to make something real when so much of what kids experience is “virtual.”

    Thanks to Dr. De La Ossa for making this happen!

  • dawsonct February 26, 2013 (8:08 am)

    I hope after they viewed the film they discussed the MASSIVE amount of historic revisionism that was portrayed, not the least of which was showing torture as an effective means of information gathering.

  • Rick February 26, 2013 (8:18 am)

    Way cool!

  • wscommuter February 26, 2013 (8:30 am)

    dawsonct … are you confusing “Zero Dark Thirty” with “Argo”?

  • Canuck Girl February 26, 2013 (8:53 am)

    Would be nice if he also “kept it real” like President Carter does in this piece … http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/22/jimmy-carter-on-argo-its-a-great-drama-and-i-hope-it-gets-the-academy-award-for-best-film/?iref=allsearch

  • dawsonct February 26, 2013 (11:12 am)

    Whoops, got my historically revisionist, overblown Oscar-nominated Hollywood propaganda pieces mixed up.
    Still, Argo AS WELL as 0Dark30 should have massive disclaimers on-screen before and after the films are shown. At least they should be required to say “for entertainment purposes only.”

  • Linda McCauley February 26, 2013 (8:54 pm)

    Way to go Patrice! Your mom sent me the link. Glad to see the success of former students. Keep up the good work.

  • B_B February 26, 2013 (11:04 pm)

    This guy could probably pack townhall. Certainly a treat for the students… And by the sound of it a Teacher taking initiative to enrich at least one day for the students…hooray. I wonder how Mark feels abut the movie?

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