Mary Kay Letourneau's father, John G. Schmitz, was an ultra-conservative politician who began his political career in 1964 and successfully ran as a Republican for a seat in the legislature.
He was known for his involvement in conservative political causes and was a prominent figure in American politics. In 1982, it was revealed that he had fathered two children out of wedlock with a former student, which deeply affected Mary Kay Letourneau.
“Some scholars have suggested that the Shakyas, the clan of the historical Gautama Buddha, were originally Scythians from Central Asia, and that the Indian ethnonym Śākya has the same origin as “Scythian,” called Sakas in India.”