Lögberg-Heimskringla - 31.10.1980, Blaðsíða 5

WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 31, OKTÓBER 1980-5
Stefanianne Christopherson
performs in San Francisco
by HILDA S. LORENSEN
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has been
called a tender love story and a gentle
Gallic bittersweet romance, but Stefa-
nianne Christopherson, the star of the
show, calls it a "jazz popera". It has
just finished a 6 week run in San Fran-
cisco. Although the production itself
has received mixed reviews, Stefa-
nianne's notices have been very
favorable. Before, coming to Los
Angeles and then San Francisco, the
show played in New York City for
almost 5 months where the reviews of
her performance were nothing short of
spectacular. You can therefore say
th’at this fine young actress "has arriv-
ed".
But Stefanianne is not just an actress.
She has many talents and has done
many things. She was born and raised
in the San Francisco Bay area. In a re-
cent interview with the undersigned,
she said that as long as she can
remember she had wanted to sing and
act and she recalls fondly the nursery
rhymes that sbe and her Icelandic-
born mother, Hrafnhildur Snorradót-
tir, learned and sang together. Hrafn-
hildur is the daughter of Snorri
Jónsson and Stefania , Stefánsdóttir,
Reykjavík. Stefanianne’s father, Lorne
Christopherson, was born in
Manitoba, the son of Kjartan
Christopherson and his wife Gudrun,
nee Stoneson. "He has such a clear and
beautiful way of speaking and loves
music," says his daughter. "Both of'
my parents influenced me greatly".
Her artistic training started early. In
high school she sang leads, studied
voice and piano at the Peninsula Con-
servatory of Music in Burlingame and
with Austin Mosher. Then she attend-
ed the College of San Mateo and San
Dr. Þór Jakobsson á íslandi
Á síðustu árum dvaldist í Toronto dr.
Þór Jakobsson veðurfræðingur. Hann
skrifaði þá oft pistla fyrir L.H. Nú er
orðið langt síðan L.H. hefur heyrt frá
Þór en oft hefur mátt sjá greinar eftir
hann í íslenskum blöðum, um ýmis
efni sem ofarlega eru á baugi í
þjóðmálum hverju sinni.
Þór starfar nú fyrir Veðurstofu
íslands. í tengslum við starf sitt þar
hefur hann nú yfirumsjón sjö út-
varpsþátta sem fluttir eru á
sunnudögum og fjalla um ýmsa þætti
veðurþjónustunnar. Fékk hann við
gerð þáttanna til liðs við sig fimm aðra
starfsbræður sína á veðurstofunni. Er
erindaflokkum þessum m.a. ætlað að
fjalla um þau margbreytilegu störf sem
fara fram á vegum Veðurstofu Islands.
Dr. Þór Jakobsson
Acknowledgement
by Mrs. S. Stefanson Martin
Much of the recent wide-spread in-
terest in Genealogy stems perhaps
from the Television Seiies "ROOTS".
Many adults, adopted at birth by foster
parents are more anxious than ever be-
fore to find out who their biological
parents really are. Unfortunately, this
search may sometimes cause more
grief than satisfaction. Reflections on
family origins brings to mind that no
nation on earth appears to have taken
more interest In genealogy than the
people of Iceland. One also notices that
in the last decade or two, young people
of Icelandic descent in both Canada
and the U.S.A. have turned their atten-
tion to this subject in a steadily in-
creasing measure. Greatly increased
travel across the Atlantic has rekindled
their desire to know more about their
heritage and ancestral culture.
For several years people of Icelandic
descent have written and published
histories of their native districts in
North America. Among the first of
these were "Riverton Memories",
Riverton, Manitoba, and "Beyond thé
Marsh" published by the Víðir Ladies
Aid, Víðir Manitoba.
During the last few years, quite a
few North American Icelandic family
histories have appeared. These publi;
cations are indicative of peoples desire
to preserve family identities and to re-
cord individual accomplishments.
The most recent book of this nature
is the "SIGURGEIRSON SAGA" by
Mrs. V.J. Sigurgeirson of Richmond,
B.C.
Publishing books on genealogy is
certainly not a profitable venture,
rather it is a labour of love. Mrs. Sigur-
geirson deserves praise for this work
which she carried out while nursing
her husband (my first cousin Sigurgeir)
during his bout with terminal cancer.
Another member of the Sigurgeirson
family, Mrs. Ingibjörg Sigurgeirson
McKillop 1921 - 1979, who wrote
"Treasures of Memories of Hekla Is-
land" certainly deserves mention. Her
book was also a labour of love and a fit-
ting tribute to Hekla, the "Magnificent
Island" where she was born and rais-
ed. Her tragic death which ocurred
shortly after the publication of her
book, came as a shock to her many
friends and relatives.
Those of us who had the privilege of
knowing these two fine and talqpted
ladies will surely appreciate their ac-
complishments and remain profoundly
grateful to them. We can only hope
that their work will spur on others,
who are of Icelandic descent, especial-
ly those of the younger generation,
who have reached the conclusion that
their Icelandic heritage and culture is
worth preserving.
The above reflections give me
special reason to thank my friend
Heiðmar Björnson for his help and
understanding.
Francisco State University all the
while continuing to explore diverse
avenues of expression, black rhythms,
blues, mime, improvisations and ■iWÍ
Shakespeare to name a few. A Civic
Light Ópera scholarship brought her to
Los Angeles where she trained at the ®
Musical Theatre Workshop.
Growth in other areas awaited Stefa-
nianne in Los Angeles. "It is really a
melting spot for spiritual awareness,”
she says. "I went through a spiritual
transformation there, studied Eastern
philosophies and out of this came my
devotional albums which I did with
my husband." In Los Angeles she also
adópted the spiritual name she goes by
more often than not, Indira Danks.
"But it was important to me to get back
to my Icelandic name. It’s so lyrical Stefanianne Christopherson.
and unique and I like it," she says. Stefanianne has been to Iceland
And she is indeed billed as Stefanianne several times and has performed in
Christopherson. many theatres and hotels around the
As for so many others in the perfor- country and on the State TV network.
ming arts, New York City was the big At home in the U.S., she has won many
challenge. There she made the con- awards, the O'Neil and the Richard
certed effort to surround herself with Rodgers Awards for originating the
artists of all sorts, to expose herself to role of Claudia in Maury Yeston's 9, a
everything the big city has to offer the musical based on Fellini's 8V2, the Best
young artist. She devoted her time to Actréss Award in a secondary role by
studying and to writing. She has writ- Best Plays of 1978-1979 for the role of
ten shows, television jingles which she Genevieve in the New York
says were a big part of her financial Shakespeare Festival production of the
support in those days and she also Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She was also
writes for Scholastic Magazine. In 1974 a nominee for the Cleo Award for
she wrote a new anthem for America work for television.
which was aired over BBC in 1976 and "And what next?" is the final ques-
the lyrics were published in New Age tion I put to this charming and talented
Magazine. "I also made the decision in artist. "I am going to Los Angeles to do
New York not to deal with agents and films and recordings. My next show
managers although now I use them. I will be 9 which will be directed by
have always been very independent Tommy Tune. I'm really excited about
and I have my own company now that". The Icelandic community in the
which I call Parasol. And I have Bay Area as well as many others will
discovered that the power of the mind be following her career eagerly and we
will bring you everything." It was in wish her continued success. As she
New York that she was picked for her quotes her grandmother, Stefania, as
current role of Genevieve in The Um- saying, she is really a free spirit. And I
brellas of Cherbourg. might add, an unusually charming one.
Fulltrúar Long John Silver's ásamt Þorsteini Gíslasyni. Á myndinni eru,
talið frá vinstri: Wm. Toran, Robt Ruckriegel, Ray Brewer, Ken Munch,
Wm.,Harmon, Don Chiavetta, Tom Riggs, Drew Meyer og Þorsteinn
Gíslason, framkvæmdastjóri Coldwater.
Fulltrúar Long John Silver's
heimsækja Island
"íslenski fiskurinn bestur"
Fyrir skömmu heimsóttu fulltrúar
veitingahúsakeðjunnar Long John
Silver's í Bandaríkjunum Island í fylgd
með Þorsteini Gíslasyni, fram-
kvæmdastjóra Coldwater Seafood Cor-
poration. Ferðuðust þeir um landið,
heimsóttu frystihús og kynntu sér
framleiðslu íslendinga og vinnslu á
fiskflökum. Einnig kynntu þeir óskir
sínar í sambandi við fiskkaup á Islandi.
Veitingahúsakeðjan Long John
Silver’s er ein stærsta
veitingahúsakeðja í Bandaríkjunum.
Hún var stofnuð fyrir rúmun 10 árum
og hefur vaxið mjög ört síðan. Um
1.100 veitingahús eru starfandi á
þeirra vegum í 36 fylkjum og verða á
næstu tólf mánuðum opnaðir 100 nýir
veitingastaðir.
Fyrirtækið keypti á síðastliðnu ári
um 15 þúsund tonn af frystum
fiskflökum frá Coldwater Seafood Cor-
poration og nam verðmæti innkaupa
þeirra s.l. ár hjá Coldwater um 25 mill-
jarða króna.
Fulltrúarnir kváðust mjög ánægðir
með heimsóknina. Þeir kváðust kaupa
mestan hluta fisks síns hjá Coldwater
vegna þeirrar vissu að íslenski fisk-
urinn væri bestur.