Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.09.1970, Blaðsíða 5

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 3. SEPTEMBER 1970
5
Heimskringla and other pub-
lications.
It hais been said, “Great
men have often the shortest
biographies — their real life
is in their books or deeds”.
Lauga liked people and she
always looked on the sunny
side of life, and made a per-
son feel important. We tried
in a small way to show our
appreciation for her outstand-
ing contributions to her
school, church and commun-
ity in September of 1966 when
many friends and relatives
gathered at the Gardar Luth-
eran Church to honor her.
Her niece, Christine Hall,
has written a beautiful tri-
bute to Lauga which I would
like to share with you.
“For all time the events of
Christmas, 1968 will be etched
in the hearts and minds of all
who knew and loved Lauga.
That her passing should come
at this festive time seemed at
first ironic. The thoughts that
came were of the personal
loss and grief. Yet in retro-
spect it seems almost as if this
had been meant to be.
The Christmas Eve service
was over and we were all still
seated in our pews when the
news came. W i t h i n a few
minutes everyone in church
had been told and sadness
was reflected in many faces.
But our pastor’s word of com-
fort was “Oh she wouldn’t
have wished to go at any
other time.”
To me she was always first
of all “Aunt Lauga”. But as
I sat there thinking back I
realized how much more she
had been. Always she was the
friend who 1 i s t e n e d with
I welcome this opportunity
to comment on a teacher of
mine.
We might ask ourselves:
Just why are we here today?
Why are we gathered at this
Home? What is it that brings
us together?
I suspect that it is not just
the organ, or just the Home,
or just the occasion. Indeed,
it is not only Miss Geir. It is
rather, what Miss Geir stood
for — her principles, her
ideals, the things she felt
were important.
It is those qualities that
bind us. And it is those quali-
ties I want so say something
about — the qualities I saw
in her as a teacher, as a
writer, and as a friend.
I think those qualities can
be summed up in two ways.
First, she taught us to “live
beyond ourselves.” Second,
she foStered a “sense of com-
munity.”
She taught us to “live be-
ond ourselves.” Example is an
understanding. She had been
my teacher in the first grade
and again in my freshman
year in high school.
Her sense of humor and her
fun loving nature endeared
her to her students. It was
usual during moments after
class to see a group gathered
around her desk. Some were
there for help with problems,
others merely to chat. And
many carne to her with their
personal problems knowing
they would receive sympa-
thetic understanding. Many
asked her advice when im-
portant decisions had to be
made. In her way she helped
shape many young lives.
She never condoned behav-
iour or attitudes which did not
meet with her own high prin-
ciples. Serious matters were
discussed and resolved with
all the sincerity and forth-
rightness which were hers.
Foolish things met with a look
of disapproval with laughter
breaking through. Yet there
was not the fear of being
laughed at. Instead all laugh-
ed together. This was her re-
lationship with her students,
many who became her friends
for life.”
* * *
We should like to extend
special thanks to Lauga’s nep-
hew, John Davidson, for mak-
ing all the arrangements for
the purchase and dedication
of this organ.
What better memorial could
be given to such a great lover
of all arts than this beautiful
electronic organ. Lauga’s un-
selfish devotion and service
to mankind will continue to
be an inspiration to us.
excellent teacher. Her mind,
her personality, her class-
room, and her home, were, in
themselves, an education. The
entire style of her life, it
seems to me, serves as a re-
minder concerning the major
point of education — or the
major point of living, for that
matter. The true teacher helps
each student to find himself
as an individual. Further, the
teacher helps the student lose
himself in causes, and ideas
larger and more enduring
than t h e student himself.
Some call this “living beyond
ourselves.”
She had a respect for in-
tellectual and spiritual values
that have carried over many
miles and many years, and
will no doubt carry on and
on, affecting many others. It
was an uncommon woman
with uncommon gifts who led
us to assemble in Gardar four
years ago t o t e 11 her we
admired her. It was an un-
common woman who could
write a play that in three
short acts could recapture the
spirit of the Icelandic settlers.
And that spirit was felt not
only locally, but far, far away,
as that play (In Ihe Wake of
the Sform) was broadcast na-
tionwide in Iceland by the
National Broadcasting Cör-
poration. The message of that
play reached many, many
people.
So I say Miss Geir was an
uncommon woman. She was
uncommon because she was
able to articulate a feeling
that is in all of us — a feel-
ing that we should do our
best, we should help others.
As a regional writer, she
showed us in her plays, her
skits, her pageants that litera-
ture is not detached from the
world, but rather attached —
deeply attached — to human
values. It has been said that
the task of those who write
literature is to heed “the liv-
ing voice of life,” to bear wit-
ness to the good, the true and
the b e a u t i f u 1. This voice
speaks of the universal
themes of life and death, man
and God, good and evil. Many
claim that the highest pur-
pose of creative writing is to
present “an image of man that
is greater than man, thus
leading him to nobler realms
of being.”
To many of us, Miss Geir
spoke with that kind of voice.
The second quality I men-
tioned was the ability to
foster a “sense of commun-
ity.” We live in a world
which in many ways is tom
apart, but Miss Geir had a
way of bringing people to-
gether, of pointing out what
they had in common.
A famous philosopher once
said, “What is honored in a
community will be cultivated
there.”
The play she wrote is testi-
mony to this idea. The play is
a reflection of this commun-
ity, the Gardar-Mountain
region where she was born
and spent many years of her
life, including the most for-
mative early years of child-
hood. T h i s neighborhood
nourished her imagination
and in turn showed its pride
and appreciation in putting
on her play, In. the Wake of
the Storm. I still marvel, as
others do, that local players
could do this and do it so
well.
Walt Whitman said, “To
have great writers there must
be great audiences too.” In
other words, literary achieve-
ment is a collective enter-
prise. The writer and the
audience need each other. The
writer is part of the commun-
ity as well as an individual.
What the writer accomplishes
individually he owes in part
to the community. It follows,
then, that through the writer
the members of a community
speak to each other and in a
sense even to themselves.
* * *
In closing, I am going to
read a few lines from a letter
Miss Geir once wrote to me
and my wife Borghild. These
few sentences show that
music meant much to her (and
they also show her delight-
ful humor; she enjoyed pok-
ing fun at herself.) These lines
were written in 1966, at
Christmas time. We had sent
her a picture of our family.
She expressed her apprecia-
tion, and then added:
The picture is just the
thing to decorate my old
organ (my prized posses-
sion). Out of that organ
c a m e Stephen Foster
tunes that cheered and
delighted my childbood.
My foster parents had
eight children of their
own before they adopted
me. I am the sole survi-.
MÝVETNINGAR
SPRENGDUSUNDUR
STÍFLUNA í MIÐKVÍSL
í FYRRAKVÖLD
Þingeyingar sprengdu í
gærkvöldi upp stíflu Laxár-
virkjunar í Hólskvísl, eins og
hún er kölluð. Þarna voru að
verki um 100 manns, karlar
og konur og notuðu skóflur,
dráttarvélar og dýnamit, sem
var í eigu Laxárvirkjunar,
en búið að leggja 1 hellum
þarna í 10 ár. Ástæðan fyrir
þessum verknaði segja Þing-
eyingar vera þá að stíflan hafi
verið óleyfilega byggð og án
þess að nokkrar bætur hefðu
komið til landeigenda, sem
skaðazt hefðu á því og einnig
eyðileggi stíflan silungagengd
milli Laxár og Mývatns. Lax-
árvirkjunarstjóm lítur þenn-
an atburð alvarlegum augum
og hefur kært málið til sak-
sóknara.
Stíflan, sem sprehgd var
upp, er töluvert sunnan við
Mývatnsósana, þar sem eru
mikil mannvirki til vatns-
miðlunar. Þegar fréttamaður
Tímans kom á staðinn í dag
stóðu steypujárnsteinarnir út
úr steypunni og búið var að
ryðja grjóti og sandi upp á
bakkana báðum megin. Stífl-
an var þannig gerð, að , miðju
var silungastigi og út frá hon-
um í báðar áttir voru síðan
veggir, 30 sm þykkir og mikið
járnbentir. Það voru þessir
veggir, sem þurfti að sprengja
með dýnamiti Laxárvirkjunar
í gærkvöldi.
Utan á veggjunum var síð-
an grjóthleðsla, og þar utan
á sandur og möl og var þetta
töluvert mannvirki. Skörðin
báðum megin við silungastig-
ann eru um 5-6 metra breið
en þó aðeins styttri að sunn-
anverðu.
vor of that musical fam-
ily and the old organ has
asthma which is incur-
•
able, but like me, its pre-
sent owner, the old relic
tries to keep up an ap-
pearance. While I use face
cream, it consumes furni-
ture polish and receives
company — friends —
who silently sit there and
look down at me.
I share those lines with you
because they indicate that the
memorial selected — a musi-
cal memorial — is an ap-
propriate choice. The organ
is an instrument that can in-
spire and please, and for the
many who hear it, it will long
be a musical expression of
those things Miss Geir stood
for. As the organ sends out
its sounds, its music will re-
mind us that we should share
with others in a community
spirit and will encourage us to
“live beyond ourselves.”
í gærkvöldi um klukkan
hálf átta fóru um 150 manns
að stíflunni, karlmenn, konur
og jafnvel börn tóku þátt í
aðgerðunum, en um þriðjung-
ur fólksins horfði aðeins á.
Aðallega notaði fólkið hendur
og skóflur, en einnig dráttar-
vél og svo dýnamitið, sem
Laxárvirkjun átti og hafði
geymt í 10 ár í hellum í berg- .
inu nálægt inntakinu. Lög-
reglan á Húsavík vissi ekkert
um þetta fyrr en undir mið-
nætti og fór þegar á staðinn,
en þá var mest um garð geng-
ið, og var lokið að fullu um
tvöleytið.
Fréttamaður Tímans hitti
Eystein Sigurðsson á Amar-
vatni, sem á land að hinni um-
deildu stíflu, að máli í dag.
Fór fréttamaðurinn með Ey-
steini að sprengingarstaðnum.
Eysteinn sagði, að alls hefðu
um 150 manns verið á staðn-
um í gærkvöldi og 100 manns
lagt hönd á plóginn við að
sprengja upp stífluna og koma
burt jarðvegi. Var fólkið úr
Mývatnssveit, aðallega, en
líka úr Reykjadal, Aðaldal og
Kinn.
— Hvaðan var dýnamitið,
sem þið notuðuð við spreng-
ingarnar?
— Dýnamitið, sagði Ey-
steinn, — var í eigu Laxár-
virkjunar, og var búið að vera
í hellum í kring um Mývatns-
ósana í um 10 ár. Það var orð-
ið gamalt og þurftum við því
mikið af því og urðum að
sprengja oft.
— Hvers vegna létuð þið til
skarar skríða nú, að sprengja
þessa stíflu?
— Það hefur staðið til hjá
okkur síðan 1961 að fjarlægjá
stífluna, en svo þegar spreng-
ingar byrjuðu við Laxárvirkj-
Framhald á bls. 5.
DR. HARVEY K. JACOBSON:
Dedication Remarks About
A Dedicated Teacher
ÍSLANDSFRÉTTIR
Fréttir úr Timanum 26-28 ágúst