Luke Somers, an American who was killed during a rescue attempt against his al-Qaeda captors in Yemen, had been working as a freelance photographer and editor in that country. Those who knew him say he had “wanderlust” and was drawn to new experiences.
Lucy Somers said Saturday that that she learned of her 33-year-old brother’s death from FBI agents. He had been kidnapped in September 2013 in the Yemeni capital of Sana.
Lucy Somers said her brother had worked to raise awareness of people’s plight in Yemen and improve things with his work.
“Through his photographs, we can see the humanity through conflicts, the familiar in a turbulent tribal region,” she said from near London.
Family friend Penny Bearman said he had a sensitivity for people and had become a well-loved and respected member of the local community in Sana.
“I think Luke would have wanted issues of extremism and terrorism to be addressed by stepping up the dialogue instead of resorting to conflict between nations,” Bearman said.
Somers, who was born in Britain, earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing while attending Beloit College in Wisconsin from 2004 through 2007.
“He really wanted to understand the world,” said Shawn Gillen, an English professor and chairman of Beloit College’s journalism program.
Fuad Al Kadas, who said Somers is one of his best friends, said Somers spent time in Egypt before finding work in Yemen. Somers started teaching English at a Yemen school but quickly established himself as a one of the few foreign photographers in the country, he said.
“He is a great man with a kind heart who really loves the Yemeni people and the country,” Al Kadas wrote in an e-mail from Yemen. He said he last saw Somers the day before he was kidnapped.
“He was so dedicated in trying to help change Yemen’s future, to do good things for the people that he didn’t leave the country his entire time here,” Al Kadas wrote.
Gillen said Somers wanted to seek out experiences that would matter to him, noting he traveled to Egypt as part of the school’s study abroad program. The professor said he wasn’t surprised when he heard Somers had moved to Yemen.
“He’d want to be in places where world events were happening,” the professor said, adding that liberal arts instructors want their students “to go on and lead meaningful, purposeful lives. Luke was trying to do that. That makes (his capture) all the more horrible for us to ponder.”
