Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.02.2004, Blaðsíða 2

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Editorial • Ritstjórnargrein
Lillian- Vilborg
Managing Editor
WlNNIPEG, MB
Ihad to smile recently when
I read a newspaper piece
about judges lining up to do a
bit part in a musical.
I spent a huge chunk of
my life around law students,
law professors, lawyers and
judges when I worked in law
libraries and faculties of law.
I had two brothers-in-law and
a husband who practiced law.
What has always amazed me
about them as a group is their
broad interests, and their
enthusiasm for life in general.
I didn’t see the un-serious
side of the law and lawyers
when I worked at the
University of Washington
Law Library in Seattle. I was
fresh out of library school and
terrified of them all, students,
professors, lawyers. Even my
bosses who were “double
degree” librarians, having
both library and law degrees.
When I first worked at the
University of Alberta John A.
Weir Memorial Law Library
my “office” was a desk right
out on the floor in the main
reading room where the stu-
dents studied. I had to get
over my timidity fast. I could-
n’t hide in the stacks.
One of the joys of work-
ing at the U of A was getting
to know the students. Their
variety never ceased to amaze
me. They came as linguists,
musicians, actors, directors,
veterinarians, film makers,
teachers, nurses, doctors,
English majors, engineers, as
well as the expected histori-
ans, political scientists, econo-
mists and business students.
Although Icelanders are
pretty scarce in Edmonton, 1
got to know three during my
years at the law school. I met
Eric Oddleifson soon after I
arrived, when he was a politi-
cal science student with beau-
tiful fair hair flowing down to
his waist. I couldn’t help but
notice his name and asked the
inevitable “Are you
Icelandic?” Just recently he
visited me in Winnipeg. And
what do you think? His dad
Sollie grew up on the same
block on Ingersoll as I did. A
generation before me. He
most likely knew my dad!
A few years later Brad
Willis flew into my office say-
ing “They tell me that you are
Icelandic!” Brad speaks
French so fluently that he was
teaching at the Faculté St.
Jean when he was a law stu-
dent. He was an actor then
too, as well as a chess champ.
And he is always learning
Icelandic. Dad remembered
his mom and where she grew
up, not far from us in the west
end.
A few years later, a staff
member said to me, “That
woman studying out there is
called Bjarnason.” Because
she had the same surname as I
grew up with, I had to meet
her. Kerry Bjarnason had
returned to Alberta, and was
studying for the bar admission
exams. I ended up attending
her bar admission and meeting
her dad, a well-known CBC
radio sports announcer. •
All three of these lawyers
are active in the Edmonton
Icelandic club these days.
The claim at law schools
is that in first year they scare
you to death, in second year
they work you to death and in
third year they bore you to
death. This formula leads to
an intensity both in work and
play. After working and play-
ing hard while studying law
-oh the stories of intrigue and
tomfoolery I can tell from the
librarian’s point of view - our
graduates move into society
with the same ethic.
And their variety brings
much to the culture of the
community. Not only will
members of the bench offer to
volunteer their time for a
cameo moment in the musical
Chicago, they volunteer time
for many things.
We have many stellar
examples in the Icelandic
community. We have two
legal volunteers on the L-H
Board - Grant Stefanson and
Kris Stefanson. Everyone
knows Tim Samson’s name -
he husbands the money at the
Canada-Iceland Foundation.
Tom Goodman headed up the
Under 17 Hockey Tournament
held in Selkirk and Stonewall
last year. And there are many,
many more.
And I’m sure it’s true in
every community. And then
there are all those legally
trained people out there doing
unlawyerly things like run-
ning every imaginable kind of
business, acting, writing,
doing radio shows, and pro-
ducing, writing, or directing
television series and movies.
Even writing for the L-H\
L-H Receives
Another Substantial Gift
Letters to the Editor
It really felt like Christmas
when Audrey Kwasnica, L-
H Business Officer, opened an
envelope expecting a sub-
scription renewal. Instead of
finding a cheque for $51.30
CAD, she found a cheque for
$3000 CAD!
The L-H staff and board
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor Street
Winnipeg R3G 1R2
204-772-7444
www.mts.net/~flcwin
Worship with us
Sundays 10:30 a.m.
Pastor Michael Kurtz
thank Ernest Stefanson of
Gimli for his generosity to the
paper. As a board member,
Ernest already gives faithfully
of his time and wisdom to the
needs of the L-H.
This wonderful and con-
siderate contribution to the
paper is a vote of confidence
in the work that we do, and
have been doing for the last
118 years! And it is like a
footstep into the future, an
assurance that the community
appreciates the window into
the North American Icelandic
world that the L-H offers, and
an encouragement to continue
moving forward with our new
plans and dreams.
Thank you Ernest. May
your gift signal bold new
beginnings for L-H.
Dear Editor,
I, the undersigned, am
writing to you see if you can
give me some information or
advice on how to find a job in
Canada.
From my early childhood
(I was born 1956) I have had a
dream about living in Canada,
just for a year or so, to get to
know the country and perhaps
learn something about the his-
tory of the Icelandic
Emigrants to North America.
I am a qualified teacher in
special education and have
worked with children, adoles-
cent and adults with learning
disabilities for many years.
For the last six year I have
been manager (director) in a
department for adolescents
with learning disabilities in
one of Reykjavik’s biggest
High Schools. www.fb.is Our
foremost aim, in the depart-
ment, is on the use of infor-
mation communication tech-
nology (ICT) in teaching and
learning and we are in the
leading position in this field in
Iceland.
I am writing to you as to
see if you can help me on my
way to make my dream come
true. I do not know anyone in
Canada or have any kind of
links with any places there at
all.
I would be very grateful if
you could give me some
information on how and/or
where it would be best for me
to search for a job or job relat-
ed position in Canada.
Yours sincerely,
Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir
GHA@FB.IS
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PRESIDENT: Julianna Bjornson
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SECRETARY: Elva Jónasson and
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