"Survive and Thrive": Kathy Kleiner Rubin at CrimeCon, East Idaho News, 2023

Name: "Survive and Thrive": Kathy Kleiner Rubin at CrimeCon, East Idaho News, 2023
Uploaded: 2023-09-24T00:00:00Z
Duration: 1 min 37 s
Description: Backstage at CrimeCon in 2023, Chi Omega survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin told East Idaho News how she recovered after Ted Bundy's attack, days before her memoir was published. Bundy is not heard.

Backstage at CrimeCon in 2023, Chi Omega survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin told East Idaho News how she recovered after Ted Bundy's attack, days before her memoir was published. Bundy is not heard.

Subject: Ted Bundy
Recorded: about October 1, 2023
Runtime: 1:37

Content warning: Concerns Ted Bundy's 1978 attack on the survivor and the murders at the Chi Omega house; no graphic detail.

The Interview

This is a 1-minute-37-second interview recorded by EastIdahoNews.com backstage at CrimeCon, the true-crime convention, in Orlando, Florida, in September 2023, and posted by East Idaho News on its own channel on September 24, 2023. Reporter Nate Eaton speaks with Kathy Kleiner Rubin, introduced on tape as Kathy Kleiner, one of the women Ted Bundy attacked at the Chi Omega sorority house in Tallahassee in January 1978. Bundy himself is not heard; the speakers are Kleiner Rubin and the reporter.

Historical Context

Early on January 15, 1978, Ted Bundy entered the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, killed Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, and attacked Kathy Kleiner and her roommate. He struck Kleiner with an oak log, breaking her jaw in three places; her jaw was wired shut for nine weeks. She testified at his 1979 trial in Miami, at which he was convicted of the Bowman and Levy murders and of attempted murder and sentenced to death. Bundy was executed at Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989.

Circumstances

Kleiner Rubin was at CrimeCon 2023 as a speaker. Her memoir, "A Light in the Dark: Surviving More Than Ted Bundy," written with Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi and published by Chicago Review Press, was due for release on October 3, 2023, about ten days after this interview.

What the Interview Covers

Asked why she was at CrimeCon, Kleiner Rubin says she is there "to help other people to know that they can survive and thrive," and because talking about her life helps her. She sums up her story in a sentence: "I was attacked by Ted Bundy. I survived," followed by "a lot of medical and mental obstacles," and says she is now healed physically and mentally. Asked for advice, she says she first felt alone, emotionally drained and in pain, and that the pain deepened her depression, until she decided she did not want to live like that. She describes using mental images of "walking baby steps to a goal," and says she went to work at a lumber yard because she was afraid of men. She ends by naming her book.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The interview is a short, dated statement by one of the survivors of the Chi Omega attack, 45 years after it, in her own words, on how she recovered.

Archival Importance

It is a brief companion to the much fuller CBSN interview she gave in February 2019. Kleiner Rubin has given many interviews; this is not a first or only interview.

Important Caveats

Ted Bundy is not heard in this video. The video is promotional in part, recorded days before her book's release. The video description calls her "one of two women who survived a brutal attack by Ted Bundy in January 1978"; that is true of the two women attacked in their room at the Chi Omega house (Kleiner and her roommate), but another woman survived a separate attack nearby the same night. The page should not add the names of any other survivors.

Nate Eaton: Okay, we are backstage at CrimeCon. This is Kathy Kleiner. Kathy, you have quite a story. Why are you here?

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: I'm here to help other people to know that they can survive and thrive, and I'm also here because it helps me to talk about my life and things I've been through.

Nate Eaton: And you've been through a lot, as I said. Can you give us a brief synopsis of your story?

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: I was attacked by Ted Bundy. I survived, and I went through a lot of medical and mental obstacles. So now I'm healed physically and mentally, and I feel great.

Nate Eaton: You feel great. You look great. We're excited to hear you speak. Do you have one piece of advice? I know there's so much that you could share, but is there maybe one main piece for people watching about how you got through this horrific ordeal?

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: When I went through it, I thought I was alone, and I felt emotionally drained, physically hurt, and when I hurt and had pain, [unclear: "it just" / "I just"] kind of made me more depressed. And then I figured out, I don't want to live like this. So I turned it around, and mentally I did mental images of walking baby steps to a goal, and then to work at a lumber yard because I was afraid of men. And, um, it's just, life's great now.

Nate Eaton: Oh my word. So you've written a book, too?

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: Yes.

Nate Eaton: [unclear: "Tell" / "Just tell"] everybody the title.

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: It is called "Surviving More Than Ted Bundy: A Light in the Dark."

Nate Eaton: Well, we are so excited to hear from you here at CrimeCon. You can check out her book, and, uh, we appreciate you chatting with us. We're glad you're here, that you survived this, and that you can use your lesson to inspire so many others. Thank you so much.

Kathy Kleiner Rubin: Thank you. [01:37: clip ends.] ---