Former Loanee, Bill Gamble, Publishes First Book
- Community
- Annuitants & Former ExPats
Author: Aramco ExPats
Released 24 September 2007
Between July 1979 and August 1982, Bill Gamble called the Dhahran Hills "home." During this time, he served as a Communications Advisor for Saudi Aramco. All four of the major U.S. oil companies submitted a candidate for the post, but in the final analysis it was Exxon Corp.'s honor to "loan" Bill to Aramco.
When asked if he could share any amusing anecdotes about his time in Saudi, Bill's reply affirmed what had made him such an ideal candidate for a position in Aramco's Communications Department.
I was brand new to the culture and asked a Saudi why women couldn't drive outside the gates of Dhahran, Ras Tanura and Abqaiq. He replied: "It is forbidden in the Koran." I laughed out loud, and when he looked at me sternly I thought I had insulted him. So I politely told him that the Koran was written centuries before the car was invented. He looked at me and laughed out loud knowing that even though I knew no Arabic, I wasn't stupid enough to fall for his explanation.
Bill's job entailed developing various communications programs for the company. The principle one was a a video program in English and Arabic created to orient Saudi students to life in America in preparation for attending U.S. colleges and universities. The program covered such things as housing, banking, finance, communications, transportation, and culture. He also wrote and produced booklets for the U.S. Dollar and Pound Sterling employees in order to help them better understand their payroll systems.
Bill recalls that the most exciting part of working at Aramco was the unexpected adotpion of his video orientation program by the Saudi government for us by other companies sending students to the states.
That program took almost a year from start to finish. He traveled to the States a half dozen times then to Europe, twice. The script took six weeks to outline, write and edit; three weeks for management approval, another eight or nine to find production companies that were interested, five weeks for RFP's and bidding, seven weeks for shooting in Houston, seven weeks for editing in New York, three weeks for review, three weeks for re-editing and two weeks for fnal review. Then he did the editing all over again using longer scenes for the Arabic voice over.
Sadly, this left little time in Bill's schedule for participation in any of the myriad clubs and organizations on camp, though he recalls attending many wonderful dinner parties. One event that Bill was able to pencil in was the birth of his son, Chris, in Dhahran.
The aspect of Aramco life that he misses the most is the comradery with great people. Given this, Bill still keeps in touch with friends Ward Whitley, Scott Stanaland, and Allen Tabor.
Now retired and living in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, Bill Gamble fills his days with golf, tennis, skiing, traveling and writing. It is this last hobby that recently culminated in the publishing of his first novel, Terror Toll.
He began outlining the book about eighteen months before September 11 in response to other terrorist activities against the U.S. Though its genesis came about in February 2000, it was the events of 9/11 that inspired him to finish it.
He began outlining the book about eighteen months before September 11 in response to other terrorist activities against the U.S. Though its genesis came about in February 2000, it was the events of 9/11 that inspired him to finish it. Plans for the future include a possible sequel, depending on how well the book does. He's already had one book signing and another is scheduled for next month.