Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.11.1979, Blaðsíða 2

Lögberg-Hcimskringla, föstudagur 23. nóvember, 1979
RIPPLES FROM ICEL .-EPILOGUE
My one contact with your
editor, Haraldur Bessason,
was in 1968, when, as editor
et als. of “65 Degrees
Icelandic Life”, I requested
an article from him on the
story of Icelanders in
Canada. He responded
quickly and at length. This
proved to me that
Icelanders who move from
Iceland acquire: 1. an
ability to answer letters, 2.
a sense of time and
deadlines, and 3. a sense of
humor. I hasten to add,
however, that on finally
meeting him in Winnipeg in
September 1979, he was a
bit more Icelandic than the
Icelanders in that he was
two and a half hours late for
our appointment. For-
tunately, he still retained his
sense of humor. He further
ingratiated himself by
convincing me that Icelandic
Canadians still remembered
my only printed book,
“Ripples From Iceland”
(after 17 years) and were
more or less holding their
connlective breath, wanting
to know what had happened
to me since. Well, as my
number two son, Rikardur
says, “Flattery will get you
everywhere.” Herewith, my
story:
The advance copies (from
the author) of my book
arrived in Iceland on May
19, 1962 - and what a happy
birthday that was, for my
long-awaited daughter had
arrived January 22nd of that
same year. Both had taken
nine months to produce, but
where the birth of the latter
seemed to mark the logical
end of additions to the
family, the appearance of
the former heralded (I
thought) the beginning of a
more active personal
career.
There were mixed
reactions to the book from
the first. “Ripples” was
dedicated to my husband,
but he, infuriated that such
a collection of anti-Icelandic
comments be published at
all, declined to read it until
1970, when our divorce
became final. Copies of the
book were inscribed to each
of my five children because
it described a part of my life
they would not have
remembered otherwise. A
copy went to Dr. Petur
Jakobsson, head of the
maternity wing of the
national hospital. (He
thanked me five years later
by being the first subscriber
to my new magazine. In
Iceland, everything takes a
while! And copy went to,
Halldor Laxness, former
Nobel Prize winner, who
promptly invited us to
dinner and described his
pleasure at having read the
book. He suggested I go on a
cruise until after the book
was distributed and
reviewed. “I always do that
when my books come out,”
he explained, and I soon
discovered why. Of the four
biggest newspapers, Timinn
ran a kind and positive
review, Morgundladid and
Þ'jodviljinn were non-
commital, Alþydubladid
asked “Are We Like This?”,
and Visir angrily suggested
that my husband should
have instructed me as to
what to write. Positive
reviews were in the N.Y. ,
Times, C.S. Monitor and
other U.S. dailies. In
Canada Dr. Valdimar
Eylands wrote a heart-
warming review for
Logberg-Heimskringla
which was reprinted in
Iceland.
My closest friends (all too
few) rejoiced with me, but
others became distant. It
seems that some did not
wish to be associated with
the radical opinions
presented; others’ husbands
had berated them for not
producing books in addition
to children; others
presumed that as an
"author” I would turn aloof
and become pretentious,
and promptly alienated me.
I wished fervently that I had
taken a cruise, as Laxness
has so merrily suggested.
When I did get to ac-
company my husband on a
business trip shortly
thereafter, I almost jumped
from a window in my then
state of severe depression.
There were good parts
too, though, for the very
things in “Ripples” which
embarrassed or infuriated
Icelanders (it wasn’t
“truth” but “image” that
was contentious) were the
very same things that en-
deared Iceland to
foreigners. Americans,
particularly, found Iceland
quaint and refreshing, and
swelled the tourist trade for
several years. The
bookstores, which at first
would only order half a
dozen copies because “they
probably won’t sell; English
dictionaries don’t,” found
themselves reordering to the
point where the largest
importer who had scoffed at
the idea of an autograph
party (such vanity) began
wrangling with the New
York publisher about his
largest order (which could
not be filled because the
book, by then, was sold out,
and the initial order for
which had been delayed
because it had not been
prepaid. For some inex-
plicable reason, “outsiders”
could not understand that
Icelanders do not like to
prepay for items they have
not seen, or tested on their
market. Or maybe they
knew that many Icelandic
importers imported at will
and paid at leisure, after
they had scraped their
monies together).
Success is sweet to some
extent. Though my first fan
letter was a request from an
Eye Bank for a donation
after my demise, one was
from NBC’s David Brinkley,
who was thinking of doing a
TV series on Iceland, and
another was from Prince
Phillip’s emissary, assuring
me that His Highness looked
forward to reading this
book. Others were from
widely assorted people
mostly from the U.S. and
Canada. I.was interviewed
on Icelandic radion and
Armed Forces TV - the
NATO base at Keflavik, but
not on Icelandic IV. A panel
show on authors did attempt
to bring up “Ripples”, but
its chief panelist scotched
that by referring to me
contemptuously as “that
woman.” By the time the
lOOth letter arrived, my
husband, who had read
them all assiduously, an-
nounced that he now
forgave me for having
written the book, since
obviously so many people
enjoyed it. Because it is
more pleasant to live in an
atmosphere where one is
forgiven, life ímproved.
We got all kinds of phone
calls and visitors. A rich old
lady from Lubeck, Texas,
phoned late one night and
talked for an hour in
drunken, four-letter terms
of appreciation. Even the
operator chuckled as she
listened. “We’ve seen
Þingvellir and Geysir and
now we want to visit you”,
was the opening gambit of
other sightseeing
Americans. Many sent gifts
(some of old clothing) some
came right to the door “just
to hug and kiss you and your
wonderful family”, and one
came to explain to me
exactly what was wrong
with my writing of the book.
This fascinating and in-
domitable lady spent a
whole afternoon in critical
analysis finally admitting
that she. an unpublished
poet, was mad with
jealousy. She did, however,
make the excellent point
that a contributing reason
for the book’s success was
itstiming. The U.S. Embassy
was also miffed, for when
authors Anya Seton, and
later, James Mitchener were
feted by the Embassy, I was
not invited. (That, and the
Viet Nam war were reasons
why I renounced my U.S.
citizenship in 1972 without a
complete sense of disloyalty,
though the memory is still
better).
“Ripples From Iceland”
was no best-seller. It
brought me. a $1,000.00
advance and another
$1,000.00 in royalties, but
that was enough for my
husband to quit his job, for a
few months and contemplate
opening an office as a
consultant - a successful
and profitable move for him.
“Ripples” sold its 4,000 copy
printing within a year and
Norton would have
reprinted it, they said, if a
sequel were written. By the
time the sequel was ready,
however, the times had
changed, and light-hearted
personal experience stories
were no longer “in”.
Icelandic publishers wished
to publish it in Icelandic, but
I and others felt that only
readers who had lived
outside Iceland (and
therefore were at ease in
English) could properly
appreciate the book, and
that translation would do
more harm than good.
Icelandic publishers then
offered to reprint in English
from the original plates, but
with my usual luck, the
plates were melted down
some two days before the
shipping order arrived. That
was pretty much the end of
“Ripples”, but only the
beginning of the most in-
teresting part of my life.
TO BE CONTINUED
SYNOPISIS OF ICELANDIC
CONTENT
HÖFN BIRTHDAY TEA DONATION,
SEPT.30, 1979
In last week’s paper we
inadvertently omitted
references to M.
Magnusson’s report from
Vancouver on his very
important work of collecting
previously unpublished
North American - Icelandic
verse. Also, the same issue
contained some interesting
impressions of Sigurlin
Roed’s Icelandic classes in
Winnipeg.
From Minneapolis: This
week Valdimar Bjornsson
writes from Minneapolis on
recent developments in the
Minneapolis Icelandic
community.
The Editorial: The
Editorial deals with the
amalgamation of Logberg
and Heimskringla 20 years
ago.
DR. PAUL SCHACH
The frong page is to'a
certain extent devoted to
one of North America’s
foremost scholars in the
field of Icelandic literature,
Dr. Paul Schach at the
University of Nebraska.
The same page also refers
to co-operation between
Canada and Iceland in the
area of military defense.
Mr. and Mrs. W. Reid $100.00
Mrs. A. Lamb 15.00
Mr. Helgi Howardson 5.00
Mrs. B. Einarson 20.00
Mrs. Thora Orr 25.00
Mrs. B. Bjarnason 10.00
Mr. and Mrs. Herman
Eyford 10.00
Mrs. C. Philippson 20.00
Mr. and Mrs. R. Rasmus-
sen 5.00
Mr. G. Stevenson 5.00
Mrs. Christine Dala-
wark 10.00
Mrs. Thora Johnson 10.00
Mr. and Mrs. M. Dahl-
gren 10.00
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johannes-
son 100.00
Mr. Harold Sigurdson 50.00
Mrs. Edna Johnson 10.00
Mrs. Rosa Halldorson 2.00
In memory of Mrs. M.
Hjalmarson '
Mr. and Mrs. Norman T.
Bjarnason 50.00
Mrs. S. Stevenson 5.00
Mrs. S. McDowell 25.00
Collection from Tea Table
donated by Sólskin $168.00
Further Donations (Not at
Tea)
In memory of Mrs. Jana
Grimson
Sólskin $25.00
Mrs. Rebecca Einarson 25.00
Mr. & Mrs. George Cole 25.00
Mr.s. S. Stevenson 5.00
In memory of Mrs. Salome
Johnson
Mr. & Mrs. George Cole25.00
Mr. Hadden 26.00
From the Estate of Ami
Hermanson 1000.00
S. Goodman,
Treasurer for Höfn
The Icelandic Coat of
Arms consists of a shield
with a silvery cross on a
sky-blue í'ield with a fiery
red cross in the silvery
one, resting on a slab of
basalt, and supported by
the four guardian spirits
of the land: a bull, a giant
a vulture and a dragon.