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Swedish Press N Y A
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Swedish Pioneers and Entrepreneurs, Then and Now
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Axel Wenner-Gren Interview with Epiroc CEO Per Lindberg Mirror Landing
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Swedish Press is the world’s leading magazine on all good things Swedish. An authority on design, business, culture and travel since 1929, Swedish Press delivers insightful news and commentary in a visually striking format. With a nod to the past, and a peek to the future, Swedish Press is your go-to source for updates and inspiration from Sweden. SWEDISH PRESS (ISSN 0839-2323) is published ten times per year (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July/Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec/Jan) by Swedish Press Inc, 862 Peace Portal Drive, Suite #101, Blaine WA 98230 for $45 per year. Periodical postage paid at Blaine, WA 98230-9998 (No. USPS 005544). US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Swedish Press, PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 OFFICE: 9040 Shaughnessy Street, Vancouver, BC V6P 6E5 Canada US MAILING ADDRESS: PO Box 420404, San Diego, CA 92142-0404 WEBSITE www.swedishpress.com E-MAIL info@swedishpress.com TEL +1 360 450 5858 TOLL FREE +1 866 882 0088 PUBLISHER Claes Fredriksson Claes@swedishpress.com EDITOR Peter Berlin Peter@swedishpress.com ART DIRECTOR Joan Law Joan@swedishpress.com REPRESENTATIVES Calgary: Carin Pihl +1 403 931 0370 Thunder Bay: Elinor Barr +1 807 344 8355 Toronto: Gunilla Sjölin +1 905 751 5297 Winnipeg: Nancy Drews +1 204-668-7262 Los Angeles: Birgitta von Knipe +1 310 201 0079 New York: Timothy Lyons +1 732 685 3747 San Diego: Sue Eidson +1 858 541 0207
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4 Letters to the Editor 5 From the Editor’s Desk Swedish Headlines 6 Headline News 7 Swedes in the News 8 Landskapsnyheterna Business 9 Business News
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Feature 12 Axel Wenner-Gren and British
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Simone Giertz invented a robot to clap for you so you don’t have to. Photo © Alba Giertz
Swedish Press Connects 24 SCA – Swedish Council of America – Learning Swedish through Storytelling 25 SACC – Swedish American Chamber of Commerce – San Diego 30-Year Celebration
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CONTENTS ( September 2019 )
ADVISORY COMMITTEE Björn Bayley, Peter Ladner, Brian Antonson, Christer Garell, Anders & Hamida Neumuller
SweMail TRANSLATIONS to English of the Swedish parts of Swedish Press are available free of charge every month. Visit http://biolson.atspace.cc/swemail/
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Swedish Press
Wenner-Grenland – The Beginnings of a BC Megaproject, 1956-61 – Downtown Victoria Business Association
Road to 2045 26 Climate Justice the Swedish Way
Interview 14 The Boysens, An Intrepid Swedish American Family
In the Loop 27 Canada, US & Beyond 28 Calendar & Events
Global Swedes 16 Per Lindberg – President and CEO of Epiroc
29 Ads and Info
Heritage 18 Mirror Landing and the Hult Family
30 Sista Ordet En bokstavsresa i djurens värld Cover image: Advertising poster of the Swedish America Line in the first half of the 20th century.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 3
Letters to the Editor Enjoy reading Swedish Press? Email us your pictures along with your name and comments to info@swedishpress.com and we’ll be happy to publish them. Dear Swedish Press, Your fine article on Swedish artists did leave out the one who may have received the highest honor. Gunnar Widforss, who devoted years to painting the Grand Canyon and has a devoted following today, has both a trail and a viewpoint at the Grand Canyon named for him. Don Lago Flagstaff, Arizona Editor’s Comment: Right you are. We were unable to find space to describe all the 100-plus aspiring and established SwedishAmerican artists but, on second thought, Gunnar Widforss should have made it through the “filter.” Interested readers will find a great deal of information about him on both Wikipedia.org and Wikipedia.se. To Swedes and Swedish Americans: This is to notify you that the SwedishAmericana website has been revised. It is on its way to becoming a “go-to” Swedish American educational resource for Swedish America and for all Swedes, especially for those who are immigrating to America today
and for our ongoing Swedish visitors and tourists. I hope you will find the site informative enough to share it with your memberships, colleagues, families and friends. I also encourage you to share your Swedish American Stories in SwedishAmericana. Fran Cochran Author/Designer, Menlo Park, CA www.swedishamericana.org Dear Peter Thank you for putting in my notes. What a surprise and thank you for the extra magazines, they will be well distributed amongst the Victoria Swedish Cub’s members and hopefully recruiting more subscribers! Congratulations on keeping the magazines up and running for another 90 years!!! Annabelle Beresford Sidney, British Columbia Hi Joan: Your double parcel of Swedish Press arrived safely. Thank you for your thoughtfulness! I also want to thank you for arranging for the splendid book review by Lars Sönnergren in Swedish! I get many e-mails from people in Sweden looking for their immigrant ancestors, and I’m sure they would be interested in reading my book, if only to see if their ancestor is mentioned!
So thank you, Lars, for your insightful review. All the best, Elinor Barr Thunder Bay, Ontario Hej Peter Berlin! Skickar med en check för 2 års prenumeration till den utmärkta tidning, som det alltid är stor glädje att läsa och lära från. Barbro Morris Westlake Village, California Hi Peter, I wish that following the articles in Swedish you would print a very short summary in English. One or two sentences would be enough. Regards, Kristine Leander Executive Director Swedish Club, Seattle Editor’s comment: Thanks Kristine – an excellent idea! Whether your Swedish is fluent or rusty, we hone your language skills by publishing some articles in Swedish. But never despair: you will find English translations online thanks to our valiant team of volunteer translators. Simply go to http://biolson. atspace.cc/swemail/ and you will find translations of all Swedish articles going as far back as to August 2007.
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from the Editor’s Desk
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S
ummer is almost over, at least in Sweden. For many Swedes, the memory of summer revolves around the majstång (Maypole), that flower-draped wooden cross around which people young and old leap about while singing “Små grodorna” (The Little Frogs). Foreign observers must wonder what these frog-leaping people have been smoking. Adding to the foreign bewilderment, the Maypole is actually erected in June. In fact, the word maj, as in majstång, has nothing to do with the month of May; it comes from the ancient word maja meaning “to dress up,” and refers to the garlands of flowers in which the pole is wrapped. To help dispel the confusion, more and more Swedes now refer to the structure as a midsommarstång instead of majstång. Most midsommarstångs in Sweden and North America measure typically 15 – 25 ft in height and are put up by local authorities. Our Swedish-Canadian neighbours on Vancouver Island decided to erect a man-high version on their front lawn, wrapping it in garden flowers and placing the Swedish flag on top. There was less frog-hopping and more exquisite eating on this occasion, as attested by the photos below. Some of you who visited America in the 1950s will identify with the adventures of the pioneering Eskilsson family (page 10). Even though many post-war Europeans looked up to America as a model society, only a select few could afford to go there. Those who did probably followed the Eskilssons’ route from Manhattan via Niagara Falls to “Swedish” Chicago, continuing to San Francisco and Los Angeles before returning east via Grand Canyon and the South. So these few travellers were also pioneers of their time. Indeed, the main theme of the present issue of Swedish Press is “Swedish Pioneers and Entrepreneurs.” Here you will encounter Anna Furuhjelm, the Swedish-Scottish wife of the Swedish-Finnish-Russian governor of 19th century Alaska (page 21); the intrepid Swedish-Estonian Boysen family who braved the high seas to transport dynamite onboard their ocean-going sailing vessel (page 14); the highly educated Swedish Hult family who found themselves in a rough and tumble Klondike-like environment in northern Alberta (page 18); the Swedish entrepreneur Axel Wenner-Gren who had great plans for building a massive power plant and a monorail network in northern British Columbia (page 12); and Per Lindberg, the modern-day CEO of Swedish hi-tech mining company Epiroc (page 16), a spinoff of the Swedish industrial conglomerate Atlas-Copco. This year, the latter celebrates the 70th anniversary of its presence in Canada (page 9). If you find all this pioneering and entrepreneurship overwhelming, take a deep breath and continue reading our other articles on subjects ranging from regional news, art and culture to haute cuisine.
Peter Berlin Editor Peter@Swedishpress.com September 2019
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Swedish Press | September 2019 5
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Political Tidal Waves Hitting Swedish Shores
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Interpreting Statistics
Polish populist Member of the European Parliament recently held up Sweden as a cautionary example regarding mass immigration, referring to the almost uncontrolled influx of asylum-seekers to Sweden between 2014 and 2017. She went on to claim that the refugees have created a spike in Sweden’s crime rate, prompting Swedes to leave their homeland in droves in order to find safety in Poland (whose borders are firmly closed to asylum-seekers). On the other hand, the Swedish Minister of Migration and Justice, Morgan Johansson, has pointed out that, in reality, the flow of migrants has mostly been in the opposite direction. According to Statistics Sweden, 1,689 people moved from Sweden to Poland in 2018, including 1,377 Polish-born people and 241 Swedes. In the same period, 3,851 people moved from Poland to Sweden.
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Fear of the Unfamiliar
uch of the recent media attention abroad surrounding Sweden has focused on the massive influx of asylum-seekers since 2014 and its impact on Swedish society. The authors often have a specific agenda in mind which biases their reporting in either favourable or unfavourable ways. The most negative reports seem to be kneejerk reactions due to fear of the unfamiliar, be it language, culture, religion, or skin colour. In contrast, an objective summary of the situation was published in the July 14 edition of the New York Times, covering three full pages. The article acknowledges that the Swedish social nirvana has been rocked by the influx of refugees who are primarily from Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 6
Swedish borders being virtually closed to further mass immigration, there is widespread belief that the present turmoil is only temporary and will be fully resolved once the children of the refugees are schooled, vocationally trained and ready for work.
Infographics: Sweden.se
In the absence of adequate employment opportunities, their inactivity leaves room for antisocial behaviour, and they have become a strain on the welfare system. The article points out that the Swedish government has invested heavily in resources to offer the newcomers free language and vocational training with a view to making them employable, so that they can begin to contribute as much – or more – to society than they cost the Swedish taxpayers. But this process is taking time, and meanwhile the age-old sense of solidarity and hospitality among Swedes is wearing thin. More and more voters are therefore turning to the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party. Other Swedes maintain that the Swedish economy is strong enough to sustain and provide additional training for those among the refugees who are still in need of such support. With the
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A Storm in a Teapot
merican rapper A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Myers) was arrested in Stockholm on July 3, along with his two companions, following a street brawl a few days earlier. The matter went before a Swedish court. If convicted, A$AP could have faced up to two years in jail. A$AP and his companions were initially kept in custody as they were considered a flight risk. President Trump intervened, urging the Swedish government to arrange that A$AP be freed immediately, sending his top hostage negotiator to Sweden, and offering to post bail on A$AP’s behalf. The President was apparently unaware that Sweden does not take hostages, that courts are independent of the government and that the country does not have a bail system. On August 14, the court handed A$AP a two-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay the victim SEK 12,500 ($1300) in compensation. Meanwhile he has been set free and is back in Los Angeles.
Rakim Mayers, known as A$AP Rocky, is seen in green shirt, as he sits in the district court in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 30, 2019. (Court Illustration by Anna Harvard / TT via AP)
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Swedes in the News
Swedish Literature and New Adventures Dennelind leaving Telia Telia’s Johan Dennelind, who for the past six years has headed the 20,000 employee Swedish telephone company, has announced that he will leave his post as CEO and President in 2020. He reported that he is ready to move on and accept new challenges. He is lauded for leading Telia’s recovery from a corruption scandal in Uzbekistan, which ended up costing Telia billions of SEK. Dannelind said “I will continue in my role to drive our current agenda forward with full focus and commitment for as long as the Board wants.” Telia’s Board of Directors has launched a recruitment process to find a successor.
Fredrik Lindström. Source: sv.wikipedia.org
October 14 and October 20. Lindström has also announced that he is taking his show on tour in the Spring of 2020. In “Mänskligheten – Föreställningen om oss själva,” Lindström investigates human behavior using facts, statistics and entertaining visuals. Through his performance, he hopes that his audience will achieve a greater understanding of themselves.
also received great praise last year when named Best Swedish Crime Novel by The Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy. The Glasnyckeln award was first handed out in 1992, when Swedish writer Henning Mankell became a recipient for his1991 crime novel Mördare utan ansikte (Faceless Killers). The prize consists of a diploma and an impressive glass key from Nybro glasbruk (Nybro Crystal Sweden) in Småland.
Kaj Linna. Photo: Suvad Mrkonjic/ TT News Agency
Isabella Löwengrip. Photo: Lowengrip Care & Color
Lindström on Tour Swedish linguist and historian Fredrik Lindström continues his celebrated solo performance about the modern man/woman “Mänskligheten – Föreställningen om oss själva” with shows at Circus in Stockholm on September 26,
Stina Jackson. Photo: Stefan Tell
Skellefteå-born writer Stina Jackson has been awarded the Glasnyckeln prize (The Glass Key award) for her crime novel Silvervägen by The Crime Writers of Scandinavia. Silvervägen
Sci-fi by Linna
Isabella takes NYC
Key to Success
Johan Dennelind. Photo: Telia
powerful businesswoman, and that she needs to be in the world’s largest economy in order to accomplish her goal. The move will, however, not be permanent. Löwengrip insists she will still reside in Sweden when she can.
Isabella Löwengrip, 28, is taking her business to the U.S. The Swedish entrepreneur, author and blogger, who dropped out of school at age 16 to establish her first company Blondinbella AB in 2006, has since developed numerous multi-million dollar companies. She is moving to New York to establish her new business and focus on media abroad. Löwengrip told SVT News that her goal is to become the world’s most
Kaj Linna, 57, presents a remarkable story. In 2004, he was wrongfully sentenced to imprisonment for a robbery in Kalamark, outside of Piteå. In 2017 he was finally released after being granted a new trial by the Supreme Court. During his 13 years behind bars, Linna worked on his Sci-fi novel Gäststjärnan, the first of five novels in his Nemesis series. The main protagonist is an American ice hockey star Peter Elk, who is thrown back in time and ends up in the middle of a war with ancient Native American tribes. So far there is no timeframe for the release date of Linna’s four remaining novels.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 7
[Landskapsnyheterna] SMÅLAND Åtta ungdomar från Jönköping, Tranås och Gnosjö i Småland har tillbringat sommaren med att jobba som författare. Projektet, som regionbiblioteket i Jönköping står bakom, kallas ”Platsens författare” och har till syfte att ge ungdomar möjlighet att utveckla sitt skrivande. Ungdomarna har bland annat fått i uppgift att tolka och skriva om lokala författare. – Jag känner redan att jag blivit bättre skribent. Jag har bland annat blivit bättre på att uttrycka mig, sa Abraham Jidah, en av de ungdomar vilka sommarjobbar som författare. Genom projektet har ungdomarna även fått chansen att träffa artister, såsom poeten Johan Holmlund.
mot sitt mål”, meddelar polisen på sin hemsida. HÄRJEDALEN En vild myskoxe har slagit sig ner hos korna i hagen på gården Kristiansson i Bruksvallarna i Härjedalen. – De verkar komma ganska bra överens, sa kossornas ägare Stig Kristiansson till SVT. Kristiansson konstaterar även att myskoxen kommer att få stanna på gården.
HÄLSINGLAND Polisen i Hudiksvall kallades nyligen till E4:an norr om orten efter att en busschaufför informerat dem om att en bilist kört alldeles för nära chaufförens buss. Anledningen till att bilisten körde så nära bussen berodde dock inte på att den försökte preja bussen av vägen utan ville låna bussens wifi-uppkoppling. Enligt polisen ska bilisten inte ha känt till området särskilt väl och försökt köra efter sin mobiltelefons GPS. Eftersom personerna i bilen inte haft tillgång till internet, hoppades de kunna använda sig av bussens wifi. ”Föraren av personbilen var högst medveten om det olämpliga i sin körning. Patrullen nöjde sig därför med att påtala det olämpliga, och personerna i bilen kunde informeras om lämplig färdväg
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Swedish Press | September 2019 8
NORRBOTTEN
VÄSTERBOTTEN
JÄMTLAND
HÄRJEDALEN
ÅNGERMANLAND
MEDELPAD HÄLSINGLAND
DALARNA GÄSTRIKLAND VÄSTMANLAND VÄRMLAND
Foto: Stig Kristiansson
Johanna Nilsson och Annie Bolmgren jobbar som författare under sommaren. Foto: H. Eklöf
LAPPLAND
– Ja, vad ska jag göra, det är ju inte bara att flytta på en sådan här, sa han. Myskoxen är mycket sällsynt i Sverige men det finns ett få tal i Härjedalen och Jämtland. Hielke Chaudron, djuransvarig på Myskoxcentrum i Tännäs, tror att myskoxen har kommit bort från sin flock. – Nu har han hittat några kor som han nog tycker är trevliga kompisar, sa Chaudron. En sommar för cirka 20 år sedan sällskapade en myskoxe med ett antal kossor i Tänndalen i Härjedalen, och till hösten lämnade den sin hage. Förhoppningsvis kommer även den nuvarande myskoxen till rätta. NORRBOTTEN Att vandra i fjällen blir allt mer populärt, och behovet av toaletter längs lederna ökar. Länsstyrelsen i Norrbotten funderar därför på att installera en bajamaja på toppen av Kebnekaise. – Toppen av Kebnekaise och västra leden till Kebnekaise har vi ansvaret för. Det är väldigt mycket vandrare som vill upp på Kebnekaise. Vi kan hamna i den situationen att vi måste flyga upp
NÄRKE
UPPLAND
SÖDERMANLAND
DALSLAND ÖSTERGÖTLAND BOHUSLAND VÄSTERGöteborg GÖTLAND SMÅLAND HALLAND SKÅNE
Stockholm
GOTLAND ÖLAND
BLEKINGE
Malmö
Foto: Fredrik Broman/imagebank.sweden.se
en bajamaja dit, ungefär som man har vid stora evenemang som Stockholm maraton och Vasaloppet, sa Ivar Palo, ledsamordnare på Länsstyrelsen i Norrbotten. Även samebyar och turistentreprenörer har framfört önskemål om utedass längs lederna på fjällen. – Det finns en sameby längs Kungsleden som har kommit med önskemål till Länsstyrelsen om att vi ska sätta upp ett dass. Även turistentreprenörer längs leden till Kebnekaise fjällstation har önskemål om ett utedass vid västra sidan av Láddjujávri, sa Palo.
[Business] News A Celebration and a Diversion Atlas Copco Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary in Canada
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n the October 2018 issue of Swedish Press we interviewed Mats Rahmström, the CEO of the global industrial group of companies known as Atlas Copco, headquartered in Nacka, Sweden. This year the company is celebrating its 70th year of presence in Canada. Here is a brief retrospective of the company’s beginnings in Ontario. In 1949, George Blomdal, a Norwegian engineer, was dispatched to Canada to test the mining market’s reaction to a new type of Swedishdesigned rock drill and a new drilling method. This drill could be operated by one man instead of two. Blomdal targeted Northern Ontario to sell this machine due to the vast gold mining industry. He received a call from a prospective buyer wanting to meet while he was in Kirkland Lake. Due to his excitement (and not realizing
it was -34 degrees Celsius), he left without his hat and coat. The Norwegian reached his destination, but one of his ears had frozen. He continued his sales pitch while one of the men present massaged Blomdal’s ear. Following this, the first sale was made and the “Swedish Method” made its way to Canada where these drills outperformed anything that was available at the time. The method revolutionized Canadian mining and quickly spread. On May 9, 1949, Canadian Copco Ltd. was born and headquartered in Kirkland Lake. Canada was the first country in the Americas to open an Atlas Copco office and the eighth international office established after Norway (1916), UK (1919), Spain (1931), Kenya (1936), France (1946), South Africa (1946) and Morocco (1948). Throughout 2019, Atlas Copco is commemorating this very important milestone in the company’s history, with its employees, customers, distributors and other stakeholders hosting several activities and events.
Photo: Atlas Copco
In the Eye of a Political Storm
The forcible seizure of the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard on July 19 is receiving much publicity in the international news media. Few of the reports mention that the ship is owned by the Swedish company Stena Bulk AB, one of many subsidiaries of the Swedish conglomerate Stena Sphere. For travelers in Europe, the most familiar subsidiary is probably Stena Line AB which operates ferry services around Scandinavia, and also across the North Sea and the Irish Sea. The explanations for the seizure vary depending on the source within the Iranian administration. One explanation is that the vessel broke maritime rules either by having its tracking transponder switched off or by travelling in the wrong sea lane through the Strait of Hormuz. Another assertion is that the ship collided with an unidentified fishing vessel. The most plausible reason is a tit-for-tat move following the seizure by British commandos of the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 as it was passing through Gibraltar waters carrying oil destined for Syria, in contravention of EU sanctions against that country. Management at Stena Bulk have been in radio contact with the captain of the Impero who states that the crew of 23 is being treated correctly by the Iranian authorities. Iran has indicated that they are open to negotiations about a possible tanker swap, setting free the Impero if the Grace 1 is allowed to continue on its way.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 9
H ERITAG E
‘Discovering America the Columbus Way...’ Dear Mormor – Greetings from America The following are letters written by Birgit Eskilsson to her mother in Kristianstad, Sweden, during a visit September, 1952 through January, 1953. The letters are translated by her daughter-in-law, Lottie Eskilsson. Hotel Lawrence, Chicago, 25 September, 1952 Dear Mormor, “The one who makes a journey has a story to tell.” The most difficult part is to figure out where to start. My brain is so full of new impressions that it just about hurts. Let me start from the very beginning. We boarded the car in Kristianstad for the first small step to Malmö and then Copenhagen. We had to wait around for the big airplane at the Kastrup airport. It was finally our turn to board for the long trip ahead. The children were indeed very impressed by the big airplane. We landed in Prestwick, Scotland around 11 o’clock at night and spent a tiresome hour there. After another stop at Gander in Newfoundland, we entered the last stage of the trip to New York. The moment we stepped off the airplane, we were met by an absolute deadly heat. Since we were properly and neatly dressed for the travel with our coats over our arms and so on, we were just about melting away while we sat in the customs house and waited to answer a lot of questions regarding the intention and purpose of our trip, what we worked with in Sweden, how we intended to arrange our economic conditions, etc. We took a cab to our showroom on Fifth Avenue. Our wonderful
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Swedish Press | September 2019 10
Birgit with her first-born son Bengt in Kristianstad.
showroom manager invited us out that night to dinner at Rockefeller Center, where we sat outdoors, eating till about 10 o’clock at night. People showed up in all sorts of minimal clothing – women in sundresses and men in as light attire as possible. Only Mrs. Eskilsson from Sweden was dressed and sweating in a suit. Bengt and Karin ran around and made discoveries and were patted on their heads (the Americans are very fond of children). Next day the entire group of us went down to the custom brokers, to make sure that we could pick up our nice new car, which we had shipped from Sweden. But Saturday is almost holy here. Everything which can be closed is shut down, as was the customs agency. Well, New York isn’t exactly seen in one day. We entered the tallest building in the world, the Empire State Building. After that we visited the world’s largest movie theater, Radio City, and watched “Ivanhoe” and other show pieces. Sunday was spent taking a long sightseeing tour by boat along the Hudson River including the Statue of Liberty. It was fresh and cool out on the water, and we were now wearing our summer clothes.
We spent Monday with more running around at the customs and finally Sture could proudly and happily seat himself in the car and drive away, except the car stopped after about 10 meters; the battery was dead. The next day we could drive out from the “world city,” which at this stage had started to make us a bit crazy; it is so incredibly large and noisy. We then drove through beautiful regions with large forests and smiling countrysides. It was balm for the eye after the stone desert of New York. At this time we were on our way to one of the world’s eight wonders, Niagara Falls. When we reached Niagara Falls, the sun shone, sparkled and dazzled in the never-ending roaring masses of water. We arrived there in the evening and got a delightful place to stay for the night next to the magnificent falls, so we could just walk around the corner in order to admire one of the world’s wonders. We went on the little boat, “The Maid of Mist,” which runs as close to the actual falls as you can imagine. It is so-named because it runs so close to the falls that you get hit by a steady flow of moist mist. We were all outfitted in rubberized raingear from top to bottom. We took a walking tour under the falls through tunnels blasted into the mountain side. Again we had to dress up in raingear. It is kind of spooky but also supernatural and frightening to walk in the tunnels and know that such an enormous stream is rushing over your head and to see the rumbling water cascading down in front of you. It is impossible to describe. The artificial lights were turned on at 8:30 o’clock and the entire
H E RI TAG E
scenery was transformed into a fairyland. The lights were reflected over the water in all spectral colors, and you sat there enamored and entranced, wondering whether it was magic or reality. It was absolutely bewildering. We drove through Canada the next day and across the border to Detroit. On Sunday afternoon we started to detect Chicago’s skyscrapers. We drove on to our hotel in the city along the wonderfully beautiful Lake Shore Drive, which runs next to Lake Michigan. Here we are living at a very nice place, two rooms with two bathrooms plus a nice little kitchen with all the conveniences like a refrigerator and much more. Believe me, now we will have meatballs. The children were at this stage pretty tired of hotel food, so they immediately ordered their favorite dishes, and it has to be mommy’s meatballs! By the way, Chicago happens to be “Sweden’s third city.” There are real Swedish stores here also, where you can get everything you want like pickled herring, lingonberry jam, sausage, and more, all as Swedish as it can be.
We visited the gigantic Merchandise Mart building, where our office and exhibit room are housed. We have a dashing display of the absolute best and most good-looking gift items Swedish industry can produce in glass, pottery, brass, pewter, silver and wood. You cannot help but notice that Swedish quality products have a good commercial value here. The children like living here very much. They can watch television. They are terribly interested in that, of course, mostly the children’s programs which are really entertaining. It will be fun the day we have broadcasts in Sweden also. Next Sunday we will begin traveling again, first towards the west and then south towards California. It will be nice to get to the ocean. It is so terribly warm here. We are dressed in our thinnest summer clothes and still panting in the heat. I must not forget to brag about having attended Sonja Henie’s Ice Revue, which was something “never before seen.” What spectacular costumes and what a fresh breeze over the whole event! Little Sonja herself was a truly bewitching small
girl, although she is supposed to not be exactly that pretty in daylight. She is relatively wealthier than goodlooking. We are all healthy and doing fine, and we are sipping fruit juices all day and eating grapes and bananas as much as our bellies can take, and, of course, peaches, which cost only pennies here. We even bought lingonberry jam and plain salted herring in a Swedish store run by someone named Eriksson. It tasted “mums fillibabba.” We also bought Swedish pickles, and one day we had really good meatballs with accompaniments for dinner. Bengt made sure that we bought ground pork. Time has run by and it is getting late. Sture is just serving coffee so I will have to stop. Our greetings to all. The 5 Eskilssons
h
The Eskilsson family continued their travels through the United States, stopping in Boys Town, Nebraska, Pike’s Peak in Colorado, Salt Lake City and Reno, Nevada, before hitting California, where they visited San Francisco and Los Angeles. They settled down for a couple of months in La Jolla, California, where the children went to school. After Christmas the family continued their American adventures, driving through the Grand Canyon down to New Orleans, where they boarded a cruise ship. The sailing brought the family to Cuba, Haiti, Willemstad in Curaçao, Panama and Jamaica. After returning to the mainland, they drove back to Chicago and then returned to Sweden after their six months abroad. The Eskilsson family in Balboa Park in San Diego, California.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 11
Axel Wenner-Gren and British Columbia By Frank Leonard
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ost North Americans probably do not realize that a century ago Swedish financier Axel Wenner-Gren began to manufacture and sell the famous Electrolux brand that soon included more than their grandparents’ vacuum cleaner. More recognized as a technological feat was the Wenner-Gren creation and operation of demonstration monorail systems at Disneyland and the Seattle World’s Fair. Some readers may recall his blacklisting by the Allies in 1942, purportedly for actions that supported the Nazis, which gave an element of notoriety to the “international mystery man.” Better known in Sweden, of course, the name of the founder of Electrolux remains on the Wenner-Gren Center skyscraper in Stockholm, which he constructed as the headquarters for his philanthropic activities. But his fame rests as much on an ostentatious display of wealth – the purchase of mansions and yachts where he hosted extravagant galas – which frequently became subjects of examination and envy in supermarket tabloids. When Wenner-Gren died in 1961, some newspapers declared that he was the richest man in Sweden. The New York Times reported that he was a billionaire. The financier has so far not been the subject of a detailed biography or business history. Only in 1975 did Wenner-Gren begin to emerge from the media shadow when a portion of his business correspondence came to light in the trial of close financial advisor Birger Strid and three other individuals for misappropriation
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Swedish Press | September 2019 12
Axel Wenner-Gren, Electrolux founder and owner for many years. Photo: Electrolux
of funds from one of his philanthropic foundations. From this trial emerged a three-part TV documentary and a commentary on some of his business ventures, which remain the best accounts in Swedish of the financier’s activities after Electrolux. But what Wenner-Gren described as his last and greatest venture – the project to develop a huge territory surrounding the Rocky Mountain Trench in northeast British Columbia – has been largely ignored in both Swedish and Canadian accounts. During the mid-1950s, the Social Credit provincial government of British Columbia under the leadership of Premier W.A.C. Bennett looked for new development schemes in the northeast corner of the province to complement the Alcan aluminum and hydro project in the north
west. In the fall of 1956 WennerGren took over an ambitious railway development plan for northeast BC that British landscape planner Percy Gray had conceived. With Gray as negotiator, the plan was presented, modified, and accepted by the government as a “memorandum of intention,” a secret preliminary agreement signed on 16 November 1956 which was not inserted into legislation or formally acknowledged by the government. In it, Wenner-Gren undertook to spend five million dollars on development surveys – mineral, forestry, water power – over a territory whose extent and boundaries were not specified, and to build a monorail covering 400 miles (650 km) along the Rocky Mountain Trench to extract the resources he found. In return, the government granted Wenner-Gren priority in developing the resources not yet claimed in this territory, provided he purchased the appropriate licences. Although the arrangement required Wenner-Gren to gamble a significant portion of his declining wealth on resources whose extent and value would be known only upon completion of the surveys, Strid enthused about the “enormous possibilities here” which “we have … for practically nothing.” To oversee the project, Strid immediately incorporated a new entity, the WennerGren BC Development Company, located in Vancouver, whose capitalization was completely in the hands of Wenner-Gren and
long-time associate Bernard Gore, with Gore as its head. The first newspaper reports of the deal three months later prompted curiosity in BC about its principal. When he arrived in Vancouver in March 1957 to discuss details with Bennett, Wenner-Gren’s promenades – his press conferences, inspections, and meetings with dignitaries – became occasions of celebrity that many wished to witness. Initial enthusiasm for the project – headlines that hailed the “billion-dollar deal” and a cartoon that displayed a monorail crossing northern BC – were followed by accusations of a government giveaway to a foreigner of unsavoury reputation, and revelations of some of Wenner-Gren’s investment missteps elsewhere. But the widespread acceptance of a reporter’s humorous name for the unspecified development territory, “WennerGrenland,” revealed that the financier had made a mark. Even though the initial hydro survey indicated that dams on the Peace River would have a capacity of four million horsepower (three million kilowatts), Wenner-Gren admitted to Strid that the BC project would be “very difficult to finance.” After signing another agreement with the province concerning hydro development, he created a second concern, Peace River Power Development Company (PRP). With a Canadian president and board of directors, it appeared that Swedish control was finally receding. But Wenner-Gren and Gore took more than 85% of the capitalization by issuing stock to themselves at a discount – 33⅓ cents per share rather than par value ($1.00 per share), ostensibly to cover the cost of surveys. In 1960
The Werner-Gren concession in the Rocky Mountain Trench area. Cartography by Eric Leinberger.
Strid informed Wenner-Gren of the substantial return that he had secured by selling 500,000 shares at par. A year later Strid predicted that refinancing would make PRP shares increase in value ten times in ten years. But Bennett grew impatient with the lack of progress on construction and nationalized PRP along with BC Electric in August 1961. Wenner-Gren had already sold 3.1 million PRP shares at par value, however, and government compensation for his remaining shares netted a return that led Strid to exult that the organization had received $1.5 million more than the total that had been invested. Wenner-Gren’s other ventures were less fortunate, however. The undertaking to construct a monorail had never made any sense, as the estimated cost for such a development line with uncertain traffic prospects exceeded the value of all railways in British Columbia at the time. WennerGren paid for a survey for a conventional railway instead, but its estimated cost was even greater. This did not prevent Bennett and Gore from making blustery speeches at the
“opening” in 1960 of the southern terminus of the projected Pacific Northern Railway, which disgruntled railway workers dubbed as “Probably No Railway” because nothing followed. After Wenner-Gren’s death, the survey became the basis for the government’s ill-fated Dease Lake Extension line during the 1960s and 1970s. Aerial mining surveys by Swedish compatriot Hans Lundberg cost more than the railway surveys but led to little more than grandiose predictions of a “new Klondyke” and the “largest copper mine in the world.” Nevertheless, Wenner-Gren expected that these “mineral discoveries would offer the biggest returns within a reasonable time.” There were prospects for profitable forestry development in the area, but a planned pulp mill could not proceed without licences. Gore expressed his frustration that “we are handicapped by a complete lack of money.” It is ironic that the single WennerGren venture in BC that turned a profit was the concern that Bennett nationalized. In the final five years of Wenner-Gren’s life, the discouraging results of his ventures in BC largely repeated those of his other investments. The dismal performance did not prevent Strid from declaring in 1961 that BC must be “one of the corner stones of our organization.” Six months before his death, the Swedish financier wrote confidently to Strid in English that he expected more good news from BC. But in a shaky handwritten postscript in Swedish, Wenner-Gren confided that “perhaps we should pull back, even in BC, so that we can finally get off this never-ending treadmill, which really begins to exhaust me.”
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Swedish Press | September 2019 13
E X C L U S I V E
I N T E R V I E W
The Boysens, An Intrepid SwedishAmerican Family
Karl and Serafima Boysen in the late 1930s.
Ulla Boysen lives in an idyllic farmhouse adjacent to horse stables on Bainbridge Island, WA. She trains horses and teaches dressage. She also owns a gift shop in town where she sells unscented candles, fine tea and interesting gift articles. Over a pot of tea and a plate of delectable Swedish cookies, Ulla told Swedish Press about her upbringing filled with adventure. Here is the story of her family’s audacious exploits along the coasts of the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 14
W I T H
U L L A
B O Y S E N
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y parents met in Pärnu, Estonia, in 1935,” Ulla began, bringing out a photo album from the period. “My father, Karl Olle Boysen – originally spelled Båysen – came there as a young Swedish Navy lieutenant during a Navy visit. He met my mother, Serafima Veerma, at a dance. They fell in love and were married in 1937. By that time my father was in the Navy reserves. He bought a sailing ship, the ‘Vega’, on which my parents spent a year doing cargo runs in the Baltic Sea, but when the War broke out, my father returned to active duty. He served as a specialist in mine-sweeping. He and his team would don scuba gear, swim out to a mine and disarm it in the water. Then they would bring it back on shore and take it apart to study its design.” When Karl Boysen was still in the Navy, he sometimes took leave from active service. He was first mate on an ore ship for a while that carried ore from the Gold Coast in West Africa to Stavanger in Norway. In 1960, at the age of 50, Karl Boysen retired from the Swedish Navy. He accepted an assignment as captain of a sailing yacht, the Te Vega, at a time when she was used for luxury charters in the West Indies. The American owner later donated the ship to Stanford University to become a research vessel. Eventually, having returned to Sweden with his wife and daughter, he began looking around to buy a cargo ship of his own, one that sailed. He found the Ellen, built in Denmark in 1908 and in need of repairs. He bought her and took her to a shipyard in Svenborg, Denmark. During 1964 – 1967 Karl, Serafima and their daughter Ulla sailed the Ellen laden with logs between Sweden and Norway where they picked up loads of frozen herring
The “Te Vega”.
destined for East Germany. They also carried rape seed from Skåne to Bremen in West Germany. One day Karl came onboard and said: “Now we have a really well-paying cargo!” Through his contacts in the Navy he had landed a contract to ship dynamite from the Nobel factory on Lake Vänern to Ethiopia, to be used in the construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile. On the way to Ethiopia they encountered a hurricane on the Red Sea. The rudder fell off, the anchor bent, and they were forced to take shelter behind some islands on Christmas Eve of 1964. After this the family sailed the Ellen back to Sweden to pick up a cargo of TNT to take to Mejillones in Chile, then worked their way up the coast to San Pedro in California. Karl contacted a company belonging to Bill Cosby and traded the Ellen for an apartment in Hollywood. Unbeknowst to Karl there was a lien against the apartment, and he lost it. So no more Ellen, and no more apartment. Ulla: “My mother and I moved up to Davis in 1967. Davis is half-way between San Francisco and Sacramento in the Central Valley, hot as hell, which is why I live in Washington State now.
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We lived there for 10 years. I had a stable there. At the same time my father was again asked to work on the Te Vega which by now belonged to Stanford University as a research vessel.” After his assignment on the Te Vega ended, Karl stayed in Davis for a while but got bored. He found a job in Brazil working for British Petroleum as manager of their drilling rig supply
Karl Boysen onboard the “Ellen”.
W I T H
they continued to Oman. He worked for the Sultan of Oman for 2 – 3 years. My mother was with him there, and she loved it. She was definitely an adventure traveller. After Oman, my father came home to Davis. My mother was getting tired of their lifestyle and had tried to make him retire earlier when they left Brazil. Now he was 79 years old.” Their sailing days over, they moved to Bremerton, WA. Somebody bought the Ellen from the Bill Cosby Group and took her up to San Francisco, hauled her out of the water, put her on the dock between the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge, and turned her into a restaurant. The hull and the masts were still there, but for the Boysens it was as if the real ship was gone. In 2004, the restaurant was dismantled, so the Ellen doesn’t exist anymore. Ulla: “My father always had something going. When he turned 80 he decided to learn to play the accordion and do archery. My mother developed Parkinsons when she was about 80.
U L L A
B O Y S E N
Above: The “Darbat”. Below: Ulla Boysen beside Karl’s model of the “Ellen”.
My father and I took care of her with some outside help. She lived to be 93 and died at home. My dad died in 2004 at the age of 94.” We sat in silence for a moment as if to unwind after sharing Karl and Serafima Boysen’s adventure-filled journey through life. They certainly weren’t just carried along by Fate – they created their Fate. Interviewed by Peter Berlin
ships. He and Serafima spent a couple of years there. Then he received a job offer from the Sultan of Oman who had a vessel called the Darbat which was used to explore the fishing grounds in the Indian Ocean. Karl was hired by the Sultan to bring the Darbat back to Oman from Brazil by way of the South Atlantic. Ulla: “My mother and I were still in Davis. For a while we had daily radio contact with him, but after a few days there was no further contact. Not a sound from him or the Darbat for 10 days. Then we got a phone call … from Cape Town! The engine had broken down. He and his crew had rigged up a sail using the crane as a mast, and then sailed into Cape Town. After repairs,
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Swedish Press | September 2019 15
‘Openness and honesty are key features of...’
Global S
Per Lindberg, President and CEO of Epiroc
Per Lindberg. Photo courtesy: Epiroc
Per Lindberg heads Epiroc AB, a leading productivity partner for the mining and infrastructure industries. The company was founded in Stockholm, Sweden, and has customers in more than 150 countries. Per is known as a strong leader with a long track record of successfully developing companies in a competitive international environment. In our exclusive interview he describes his background and shares with us his thoughts on the company’s achievements today and in the future. He also offers his take on Sweden as seen from the inside and outside.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 16
Please tell us about your background and your career path. I am a mechanical engineer, graduated from Chalmers in Gothenburg. I also have a Ph.D in Industrial Management from Chalmers. At one point I had a plan to become a professor but never acted on it. Instead I decided to become a management consultant. I moved to Chicago, stayed there for 4 years, came back to Sweden in 2001, and was appointed CEO of Korsnäs, a company in the forestry business held 100 percent by the investment firm Kinnevik. I also became the Vice President of Kinnevik, prior to leaving Korsnäs and Kinnevik in 2005 to head up the pulp and paper producer Billerud. In 2012 we acquired Korsnäs, so as to form Billerud Korsnäs AB. Since I knew Korsnäs quite well, I figured that there would be a good synergy mix between the two companies. Then I joined Epiroc in February 2018. Can you please summarize Epiroc’s product line and geographical reach? We produce equipment and services for specific niches in the mining and infrastructure market. Our products essentially target hard rock applications. The background for that is that the mining industry in Sweden and Scandinavia is basically in hard rock, and over time we have been able to develop specific technologies for hard rock applications.
We are talking about drills for drilling blast holes, as well as tools for surface and underground applications. Add to this underground loading and hauling equipment, along with equipment for exploration. Geographically, we are widely spread across the globe. Our biggest markets are the US, Canada and Australia. We are also present in South America, notably Peru and Chile. Add to that Southern Africa including South Africa, Zambia and some of the surrounding countries. Our presence extends to Russia and China, and many more. We have 60 sales companies throughout the world, and we are selling in 150 countries. What new technologies are of interest for your product line? There is a very strong push for digital and automated equipment for mining as well as for infrastructure. The aim is to increase productivity, which has been somewhat lagging for several years. With digital technology and automation we can see a significant improvement. That is one trend. Another trend is battery development and applications for heavy vehicles, where our key partner is the Swedish company Northvolt [see Swedish Press, March 2018, page 10]. Other primary drivers are
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Putting Sweden on the Map Abroad
l Swedes
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‘.... Swedish culture as well as companies.’
cost savings, sustainability, and improving the work environment by eliminating diesel fumes and using batteries instead. What happens next? We have a leading position when it comes to our niches in mining and infrastructure. We want to grow the business to reinforce our position through digital and automation solutions, and also through development of battery technology for mining and infrastructure. We also want to grow the company organically through technological development, and through acquisitions. The target is to grow the company by 8 percent per year on average. Is Epiroc involved in any activities to protect the global climate and environment? Sustainability is key on our agenda. We achieve it primarily by making our products more energy efficient. Using battery technology will improve the environment, but even with our conventional diesel machinery we have made improvements when it comes to the CO2 footprint. We are also addressing the matter of transportation. We have a major program to reduce its environmental impact by relying less on air freight of consumables and spare parts.
In which areas do you feel Sweden contributes most globally? One area where we clearly excel is in product development and innovation. If you look at the number of Swedish companies present globally, it is actually quite astonishing for such a small economy. How do you think the image of Sweden is evolving internationally, and particularly in North America? Sweden is seen as a positive or negative role model in North America, depending on which way the political wind is blowing. Some people believe our welfare system could serve as an example for North America, while others look upon Sweden’s social model as a cautionary example of things to avoid. In general, the image is probably more of solid people, solid culture, solid companies, solid engineering skills. The products coming out of our companies are thought of as having high quality. As far as companies go, I think we benefit from being Swedish, and that is certainly true for Epiroc. In your view, how has Sweden achieved its technological and business success despite being such a small country, population-wise? Precisely because we are so small. Firstly, it forces us to be international, and I think we have a culture of openness. Secondly, we find it easy to adapt to other cultures, on top of which we possess a very strong engineering culture and education.
Thirdly, we possess a positive attitude to innovation and entrepreneurship. These three characteristics have made Swedish companies both successful, relatively innovative, and very international. What aspects of Swedish culture and lifestyle are you personally most passionate about promoting? Openness and honesty are key features of Swedish culture as well as companies. Also very low levels of corruption; people trust each other and our government. Our society is highly egalitarian. These are values I like to promote. A typical scenario for a Swedish young person is finishing high school and then taking 3 – 6 months off to don a backpack and travel the world, thereby developing a perspective on other cultures and economies. This is important, because at that age a person is most impressionable. Do your employees receive Swedish Press? If so, have you received any feedback from them? Personally I have not received Swedish Press, but I know it is distributed to our national team in Canada. As far as I know, the feedback has been positive. For me, a publication like Swedish Press is quite important, because it really reinforces the Swedish heritage, which I think is valuable for both the company and its employees. Interviewed by Peter Berlin
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Swedish Press | September 2019 17
H ERITAG E
‘The loggers came to the dances in heavy boots...’ Mirror Landing and the Hult Family By Sheila Willis with the cooperation of Jean Male, granddaughter of the Hults
A
round 1906 a steamboat captain, C.D.A. “Duff” Barber, began building a stopping place for steamboat and wagon traffic at the junction of the Athabasca and Lesser Slave Rivers in northern Alberta. This became Mirror Landing. By 1912 its business base was growing in preparation for the coming of the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway (ED&BC). It was to be a major center of warehoused goods to save settlers and other northerners shipping time, as it took a week or so to receive supplies from Edmonton to this point. In September of 1912, according to family records, Carl Henrick Hult arrived in Mirror Landing along with his wife, Signe Maria Hagström Hult, daughter Birgit and son Hans Carl. Birgit would be 3 years old that September. While there a second son, Lars Christopher, was born. Mr Hult from Stockholm, Sweden, was a civil engineer specializing in railroad building. It is unclear if he had much to do with the railway advancing to the north. While in Mirror Landing he signed himself as a merchant, tended a trap line, and was in some way involved in a pool hall operation. A local Board of Trade advertisement also shows he sold tobacco, confectionery and workingmen’s clothing. Mrs Hult from Ösmo, Sweden, brought a bit of culture to this boom town. She was a lady, played the piano
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Swedish Press | September 2019 18
well, sang not quite as well, and had the forbidden desire to be an actress. Both Mr and Mrs Hult were well educated. Mr C.H. Hult’s father, Carl Hult, was an engineer and very often worked away from their home in Stockholm. At these times the younger Mr Hult lived with his grandparents of German origin, the Voss’ in Skäggetorp. It was there that he became fluent in German. Mrs Hult had obtained a high school education in languages and mathematics before finding employment with a Stockholm insurance firm. One wonders how they felt finding themselves in a rough and tumble steamship town living in a four-room log house with a wood plank floor, all the while homeschooling the two older children in Swedish. While the pioneering life in this young town was hard, life-long friendships were formed and kindnesses given. After arriving in Mirror Landing, the Hults became good friends with Mr Joseph Gauthier, a French-Canadian logger who owned
and operated a local sawmill, and his wife who was from the American South. Mrs Hult and Mrs Gauthier swapped English lessons for piano lessons and in time began to think of each other as sisters. The Hult children – Birgit, Carl and Lars Christopher – and the Gauthier children – Renée, Joe Jr. and Frédéric – were about the same ages and were playmates (Renée later spelled her name Rene, and Frédéric became Frederic.) In May of 1914 the Edmonton Bulletin reported that fires were threatening Athabasca, Mirror Landing and Grouard. The telegraph lines to Mirror Landing were down, the poles having been burnt. Birgit Hult and her childhood friend Rene Gauthier both remember sitting in a boat on a lake waiting out a forest fire. While there is no lake near Mirror Landing, it is possible that they were on the river, or were travelling when the threat of fire overtook them. Later the two girls saw their fathers black from head to toe as if they were coal miners, and
Image of Mirror Landing circa 1912-1914. Photo: Athabasca Archives.
H E RI TAG E
the hillsides covered in black spikes where trees once stood. There were happy times, too. Both Mrs Hult and Birgit talked about the community dances at the pool hall. Mrs Hult, who played the piano, would remember how the loggers came to the dances in their heavy boots and “some were so light on their feet.” These were events for all ages, and Birgit remembers the Indigenous people attending dressed in layers. As the evening warmed, they would take off their layers like peeling an onion. It is a lesson well learned, as to this day residents of the north dress in layers in certain weather conditions to accommodate fluctuations of temperature. In 1913, as the businessmen of Mirror Landing were preparing for the coming railway, the community was incorporated as a village and the name changed to Port Cornwall, after James Kennedy Cornwall, who was influential in the area and was part owner in the steamboats that so often stopped at the river junction to pick up and drop off passengers. As so often happened, the railway chose a route on the other side to the Athabasca River. Mirror Landing was one of many boom/bust towns. With no way of making a living in Mirror Landing, Mr. Hult joined the Canadian Armed forces. He was a member of the 197th Canadian Expeditionary Force and was posted to Germany. This left Mrs Hult at Mirror Landing dependent on the mail – which was less than reliable and often delayed – to receive money from her husband. One month, with no money for food, Mrs Hult walked to town with a beaver fur coat over
Examples of some of the Mirror Landing artifacts Sheila Willis brought back from the West Coast.
her arm looking for a buyer. She encountered a woman she knew to be a prostitute who agreed on the asking price. She gave Mrs Hult the money and took the coat. After a pause, she handed the coat back and said, “Here, you will need this next winter, pay me back when you get your money.” It was a moment that Mrs Hult was to remember. Later in life she would defend the working girls as people with only one option to make a living, and with no harsh judgment on their limited choices. Mrs Hult and the children were among the last to leave Mirror Landing. In the winter of 1916 they left for Edmonton by sleigh, then moved to Winnipeg and then to New Westminster BC where they once again met up with the Gauthier family. The friendship between Mrs Hult and Mrs Gauthier lasted until the latter’s death. Rene and Joe continued to write Mrs Hult and Birgit until Rene and Joe died. The area around Mirror Landing and the new Smith town site continued to be of importance to the history of northern Alberta. When the highway routes changed in the 70’s or 80’s, the town of Smith experienced a decline, located as it was about 15 kilometers from the main route. It is now a hamlet of about 300 people.
The Hult grandchildren have recently donated some of the items that were part of the log house in Mirror Landing to the local historian, Sheila Willis. These include the original pancake pan, a 5-heart waffle iron, a Swedish-English dictionary dated 1903, the steamer trunk used to transport household items to Mirror Landing and beyond, household linens, silverware, a large photo of Birgit aged 2 years in Port Arthur, and Birgit’s doll. Plans to revive the history of Mirror Landing are in the works. These family items will not only help tell that story, but also the story of the Hult family who came from Sweden as well-educated people to make a life in a new world, and who retained their heritage for the children, grandchildren and beyond. The family memories in this story came from Birgit’s daughter, Jean Male from British Columbia, in collaboration with Joe Gauthier of Washington and Rene Gauthier Moys of California. These accounts give us a better insight into the history of the people who immigrated in the early 1900’s, bringing with them the culture and traditions from their native lands.
Sheila Willis is a historian who resides in the new town of Smith, across from Mirror Landing. She is project lead on the History Check Heritage & Tourism mobile app for northern Alberta, has also added many geocaches with historical stories to the area, and does public speaking to share northern Alberta history. In October 2018 she received an Outstanding Achievement Award for heritage awareness through Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.
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Swedish Press | September 2019 19
[Lifestyle]
Top Sju
19 September 19 marks “Messmörets dag” (The day of soft whey butter) in Sweden. Messmör can be found on breakfast/lunch/ dinner tables throughout Sweden and is commonly eaten as a sandwich or cracker spread. Messmör is made from cow’s milk and has a fairly sweet taste. The sweetness of the butter takes form when producers caramelize the milk sugars of the whey. Messmör is still produced in a few Swedish villages and dairies. The biggest supplier is, however, Fjällbrynt AB in Östersund, Jämtland.
20 Bookworms take note. The Nordic countries’ biggest cultural event “Bokmässan – Gothenburg Book Fair” takes place in Gothenburg on September 26 to 29. Enjoy author talks, book signings and seminars about freedom of speech, the importance of libraries, and the latest about Scandinavian Noir. This year’s theme country/guest of honor is South Korea, and the fair will be visited by approximately 20 Korean professionals such as writers and researchers. Visitors
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Swedish Press | September 2019 20
will be able to listen to conversations about South Korean society today, as well as its history and future. For more information see www.bokmassan.se.
10 Swedes like their vodka! Sweden’s governmentowned chain of liquor stores Systembolaget recently released a list of their most popular liquors/ spirits of 2018. Systembolaget’s sales list shows which spirits were the most popular among Swedes, and – just like in 2017 – we find vodka at the top. The list also shows that vodka and whiskey dominate the sales list – again just like in 2017. The liquors that sold best at Systembolaget in 2018 were: 1) Explorer Vodka, 2) Absolut Vodka, 3) The Famous Grouse, 4) Dworek Vodka, 5) Lord Calvert, 6) Jägermeister, 7) Tullamore Dew, 8) Captain Morgan Spiced Gold, 9) Koskenkorva Vodka, and lastly, 10) Black Velvet.
50 Experience space from earth. 2019 marks 50 years since the first moon landing when Apollo 11 landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. The city of Gothenburg is celebrating by hosting “Rymdveckan” (Space Week). From September 14 to 22 visitors are invited to take part in lectures, exhibits and workshops about the universe, space rockets, telescopes and satellites. Students may also take part in technological competitions, such as building future research stations on Mars. For more information see www.rymdveckan.se.
1120 Swedish author and criminologist Leif GW Persson is the favorite travel companion among Swedes. Swedish travel agency chain Resia recently asked 1120 Swedes which celebrity they would most like to have as a travel guide on their next holiday trip. The celebrities, whom we would most like to accompany us on our trip are: 1) Leif GW Persson, 2) Mia Skäringer, 3) Petter Stordalen, 4) Tilde de Paula Eby, 5) Gunde Svan, 6) David Hellenius, 7) Renée Nyberg,
8) Felix Herngren, 9) Camilla Läckberg, 10) Alexander Pärleros.
1988 Enjoy a fun weekend at “Äppelmarknaden” (The Apple Market) 2019 in Kivik in Simrishamn, Skåne on September 28 – 29. The annual event, which started in Kivik in 1988, features thousands of apples, refreshing ciders, an impressive food court serving locally produced delicacies, performances by beloved Swedish artists, and plenty of fun children’s activities. Don’t forget to check out Sweden’s biggest “apple painting” by artist Emma Karp Lundström. For more information see www.appelmarknaden.se.
11 Swedish nutritionist and author Fredrik Paulún recently recommended 11 lean foods that will strengthen our health and that are all produced or caught in Sweden. Make sure to stack up on wild meat, herring, milk, eggs, carrots, radishes, sugar peas, apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries – foods which are both healthy and taste great!
[Lifestyle] Book Review of “Letters from the Governor’s Wife”
By Dr. Cecilia Lengefeld, adapted and translated from German by Peter Berlin
In July of 1859, a ship carrying the 23-year-old Finnish-Swedish woman Anna Furuhjelm sailed into Sitka harbour in Alaska after an ocean voyage lasting 5 months.
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or the newlywed Anna, Sitka – or Novo-Arkhangelsk as the capital was called under Russian dominance until 1867 – was the much longed-for terminus after a perilous journey. It had begun by sled from Helsinki to St Petersburg the day after her wedding in February, and which now, at last, ended with the ship from San Francisco. She was travelling with her significantly older SwedishFinnish husband Hampus Furuhjelm who had served as an officer in the Russian Navy. He had recently been appointed Governor of the Russian colonies in North America.
Gajaa Héen (Old Sitka), circa 1827. The new Russian palisade atop Castle Hill (Noow Tlein) that surrounded the Governor’s Residence had three watchtowers, armed with 32 cannon, for defense against Tlingit attacks.
The Governor’s fortress-like residence stood on a rock, reachable by steep steps. This is where Anna was to spend the next five years of her life as doting wife, competent boss of the domestic staff and, not least, as gracious hostess of receptions, banquets and balls. At the end of 1859 her role expanded further as she became the mother of her firstborn child. We know about Anna’s adventures in the wilderness thanks to 50 long and detailed letters which she sent to her Scottish mother in Helsinki. The young Governor’s wife used every opportunity to keep a diary of her everyday experiences. These personal documents have been compiled and edited by one of Anna’s great-granddaughters, Annie Constance Christensen, a professor of Slavic Studies in Denmark. We find out that Anna approached her new and sometimes challenging tasks with great energy and optimism. She already spoke fluent German, English, French and Swedish, and now she was also expected to master
Russian. After three months she was able to tell her mother with pride that she was making good progress, that all the servants could understand her, and that she was able to keep the account ledgers in Russian. The young woman’s longing for intellectual stimulus is particularly touching. She was happily married, but her husband was frequently away on sometimes perilous inspection trips for weeks and months on end. When he was at home, there was little time left for private life. Ship captains, harbour officers and visiting dignitaries from Russia were always invited to dinner – and imperial holidays must be observed time and time again. One of the few highlights in the monotony out in the wilderness was the arrival of a ship carrying mail. Anna writes that she stood for hours on the upper floor of the residence looking longingly for the appearance of masts through the misty archipelago. Between the lines in her letters one senses the young woman’s increasingly painful awareness that she was entirely dependent on herself. The sudden cessation of the correspondence is therefore so much more disconcerting. In the midst of a train of thought, Anna stopped writing. In the autumn of 1862, the news of the death of her mother reached her at long last after a delay of five months. Letters from the Governor’s Wife. A View of Russian Alaska 1859 – 1862. Edited by Annie Constance Christensen. Aarhus University Press 2005. ISBN 87-7934-159-4. Available on Amazon.
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Hemma hos
Simone Giertz Invents the Best Incompetent Robots
[Design]
By Kristi Robinson
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ou may never have thought you needed a drone that flies recklessly at you with a pair of scissors to cut your hair, or a wake-up machine to abruptly raise you from peaceful slumber with a robot hand slapping you in the face, but Simone Giertz invented them anyway. The selfprofessed ‘Queen of Useless Robots’, Simone makes her living creating machines to do things that you can do much better yourself.
Simone’s wake up robot wakes one up with a slap in the face. Photo © Simone Giertz
As a native of Stockholm, now living in San Francisco, Simone briefly studied physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She went on to attend Hyper Island, a digital school also in Stockholm. Her career in lousy robots started unintentionally when she uploaded a video of her hands-free toothbrush helmet to YouTube. The video went viral, so she created more robots and more videos of their entertaining shortcomings. Inventing useless robots can only get you so far; it’s likely Simone’s charisma and humour, often selfdeprecating, have amassed her almost two million YouTube followers. She’s as entertaining to watch as she is
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Simone Giertz invented a robot to clap for you so you don’t have to. Photo © Alba Giertz
technically savvy. Being the best at inventing robots intended to fail in comedic fashion has landed Simone on The Ellen Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She has also been an inventor and roboticist on a myriad of TV series and documentaries, as well as a TED speaker with her talk on ‘Why You Should Make Useless Things’. Simone has always been very open with her audience. In 2018 when she received a diagnosis of having a non-cancerous tumour behind her right eye, she was very candid about her journey and documented it on her YouTube channel. The golf ball sized tumour she affectionately named ‘Brian the brain tumour’ was removed during surgery, only to have it return in early 2019. This time she underwent six weeks of radiation therapy. Now back in the workshop, the whole experience has changed
Simone demonstrates her soup robot. Photo © Simone Giertz
the trajectory of her robotics career. She’s turning her attention towards things that really fuel her, like her recent Kickstarter project ‘The Every Day Calendar’, a touchpad LED calendar that functions like a grown-up version of a gold star chart, designed to encourage good daily habits. She has also gone full force ahead with a Tesla project. The idea was born before her diagnosis and put on hold during treatment, finally coming to fruition this past summer. Tired of waiting for Tesla to come out with an electric truck, Simone made one of her own. With her small team of friends consisting of an engineer/ mechanic, a fellow
‘Truckla’, a Tesla Model 3 Simone and her team converted into a pickup truck. Photo © Simone Giertz
YouTuber, and a Tesla expert, Simone transformed a Tesla Model 3 into the world’s first electric pickup truck she called ‘Truckla’. It was by far Simone’s biggest project, but she nailed it and celebrated its success by filming a ‘Truckla’ commercial she shared on YouTube. As for what her future holds, she says she may go back to inventing useless robots, but in the meantime she’s exploring what else is out there. She has dreams of being an astronaut, and given what she has accomplished so far there’s no doubt she’ll make this happen.
Hemma hos
Using Swedish Recipes to Reconnect with Swedish Roots By John Duxbury
[Treats]
à la John Duxbury
so I decided to explore setting up a website to share my passion. Armed with a few examples of my recipes in English, I approached some Swedish TV chefs and cookery writers for help. Fortunately, nearly everyone I asked agreed to help get the site established. The site eventually opened in 2013 and has grown steadily since with users all around the globe. Many readers tell me about their fond memories of dishes cooked by their Swedish grandparents and how they would like to pass some Swedish
recipes on to their children. For them, food is an important way of staying in touch with their roots. In contrast, over 10% are new immigrants in Sweden who would like to learn more about Swedish food, but their Swedish is not yet good enough, so they use SwedishFood.com.
Apple & Almond Tart John Duxbury in action. © SwedishFood.com
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live in the UK and first went to Sweden 20 years ago for work. I immediately liked the country, its people and even its climate, but the real bonus was that the natives spoke English incredibly well and obviously enjoyed doing so. Communication was so easy. On my visits I was often spoilt with delicious meals, so when I got back to the UK, I wanted to cook some Swedish food for family and friends, but found it hard, in the days before the internet, to find recipes in English. As a result, when I stopped fulltime work, I decided I would learn some Swedish, so that I could read Swedish cookery books and because learning a language is probably good for an aging brain! I can now read recipes in Swedish, but I still normally speak English when I am in Sweden because I can have far more fun talking to the natives. It occurred to me that I might not be the only Swedish food freak,
Ingredients: Pastry • 180 g (1¼ cups) plain (all purpose) flour • 50 g (3 tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar • 125 g (½ cup) butter, cut into small cubes • 1 egg yolk
Äppeltarte med mandelfyllning och tosca (Serves 10 – 12) Swedes have hundreds of recipes for different types of apple tart. Äppeltarte med mandelfyllning och tosca is one of my top choices! (Swedes like to use the French word tarte instead of the Swedish word tårta.) Essentially it consists of three layers: a wonderful butter pastry case, a soft almond filling and a thin crisp toffee-apple and almond topping. The original recipe was by Maud Onnermark, one of my favourite Swedish cooks and editor of Matmagasinet. Tosca refers to the fact that the topping is based on the topping for Toscakaka, a cake which was created in honour of Puccini’s opera.
Filling • 75 g (⅓ cup) butter, softened • 100 g (⅝ cup) ground almonds • 100 g (7 tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar • 1 large egg • 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice • 2-3 red-skinned apples
Preparation: Make the pastry by putting the flour and sugar in a food processor and giving it a few whizzes. Add the butter and whizz for 10-15 seconds until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the egg yolk and process for a further 20-30 seconds until the pastry clings together. (If it doesn’t, add a teaspoon or two of cold water.) Roll the pastry out and use it to line a 25 cm (10”) loose-based tart tin. Chill for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas 6, fan 180°C). Prick the base of the tart and bake for 12 minutes. While the case is baking, mix the butter for the filling with the ground almonds, caster sugar, a large egg and the zest from the lemon. Put the lemon juice in a large bowl. Core and slice the apples very thinly and toss the slices in the lemon juice to prevent Topping them from going brown. When the case is baked, spread the • 50 g (3 tbsp) butter almond filling over the base and then top with the apple slices. • 1 tbsp flour Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes, until the • 50 g (3 tbsp) caster filling is set. (superfine) sugar Meanwhile, melt the butter for the topping and then stir in the • 2 tbsp liquid glucose flour, sugar, liquid glucose and flaked (slivered) almonds. Keep stir (glucose syrup) ring the mixture on a low heat until it starts to simmer. Spread the • 50 g (½ cup) flaked mixture over the filling and continue baking the tart for a further 10 (slivered) almonds minutes, until the topping is a light brown toffee colour.
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Swedish Press Connects
Swedish Council of America
Learning Swedish through Storytelling By Gregg White, SCA Executive Director
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here is no doubt about it – we live in a multicultural world. The Internet has made Umeå seem as close as Chicago; Skype has made calling friends in Stockholm as easy as phoning a coworker in Seattle; and transnational mobility Students exploring what it means to has made our neighborbe global. Photo: Gregg White hoods, schools and workplaces multiracial, culturally diverse and hopefully inclusive. Adeptly dealing with this global environment is a necessary 21st century skill, one that is required for today’s young students to be successful in school and the workplace. Inspiring Courageous Global Citizens is Concordia Language Villages’ (CLV) concise but compelling mission statement. They achieve this by totally immersing their students in the language and culture of one of their 16 various language programs. Since 1975 when they opened Sjölunden, their Swedish language summer camp, over 6,500 students have enrolled, with many returning summer after summer to further their acquisition of the language. In keeping with its mission, Sjölunden invited internationally renowned author and educator Julie Lindahl to be this year’s artist in residence. She is the founder of Stories for Society, a non-profit that uses the art of storytelling for teaching and social transformation. The method integrates story-making in words, images and dramatization to reveal and explore different perspectives, while expanding vocabulary and deepening cultural understanding. The result instills important 21st Century skills in its participants, including creativity, critical thinking, empathy, compassion, leadership and teamwork. Because at Sjölunden much of her work was done in Swedish, it also reinforced the students’ language skills and their confidence in conversing in Swedish. Over the past several decades, Swedish Council of America (SCA) has been a proud funding partner of CLV. Ms. Lindahl’s residency at Sjölunden was funded, in part,
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by a 2019 SCA Grant. Past SCA Grants to CLV have funded projects such as cataloguing library materials, building new curriculum units for the Swedish high school credit program and sponsoring artists in residence in dance, music and textiles. These projects have kept villagers coming back year after year, knowing that every summer will bring a new angle from which to study Swedish language and culture. Says Emily Kajsa Pyenson, dean of Sjölunden, “SCA Julie Lindahl leading a group. encourages us to innovate Photo: Gregg White across our programming at Sjölunden. In recent years, artists in residence enhance villagers’ learning and demonstrate excellence teaching practices to our program staff, thereby building our teaching capacity over the long term.” Promoting knowledge and appreciation of Swedish heritage and culture in North American life, and strengthening contemporary cultural and educational ties between North America and Sweden is SCA’s mission. Providing financial support to Sjölunden and hundreds of other projects in Swedish America is one way SCA furthers this goal.
“Our Swedish Roots will always be here” reads a sign at the discussion circle. Photo: Gregg White
SCA is Swedish America’s community foundation. Our mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation of Swedish heritage and culture in North American life and to strengthen contemporary cultural and educational ties between North America and Sweden. We achieve this by providing grants to organizations, scholarships to youth, recognition to leaders and communications to the community – all focused on furthering our mission. www.swedishcouncil.org
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Swedish Press Connects
Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce
Swedish American Chamber of CommerceSan Diego 30-Year Celebration By Claudia Nizich
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he Swedish American Chamber of Commerce was first established in San Diego in 1989 as a non-profit organization and a network of companies and individuals interested in the commercial and social exchange between Sweden and Southern California’s San Diego region. We had the pleasure of hosting our 30-year celebration party on Saturday June 1st at the beautiful Presidio country club in Carlsbad. Fifty of our amazing corporate members as well as members of the board showed up for a threecourse Swedish meal and a quiz about our fantastic organization to the sound of 80’s-and 90’s tunes. We would like to thank the two attending founders, Börje Ekberg and Gustaf Rooth, for starting up SACC in San Diego 30 years ago – congratulations on creating valuable business opportunities and relationships for thirty years! SACC-San Diego’s From the left: Torbjörn Milläng from network is constantly GoToMarket USA; Sofia Austlid, growing, and we now have former Business Development at SACC-San Diego; Linus Andersson 28 corporate members in from GoToMarket USA. total, 10 new as of this year. We are so proud that these companies have chosen our organization to help them succeed in Southern California! Our initiative Life Science Bridge, in collaboration with
SACC-San Francisco and SACC-New England (Boston), is also growing with a lot of new Corporate Members and Strategic Partners. Save the date for the chamber’s annual cleantech conference ‘Green Connections’ that will be held on November 21st. Green Connections is our flagship event, where we invite Scandinavian and American industry leaders, entrepreneurs and decision makers to share their knowledge and plans on how to build a sustainable future. This year Green Connections will be a part of Bluetech Week in collaboration with The Maritime Alliance. Therefore, this year the themes are focused on ‘Currents of Energy.’ In order to accelerate our shift towards a greener world, a global connection between the pioneers of sustainability is needed. Through Green Connections, our ambition is to create a platform for inspiration and success stories between the Southern California region and the Nordics, working together to reduce the carbon footprint on the planet while additionally creating sustainable business opportunities. SACC- San Diego is proud of its achievements From the left: One of the founders and hopes the next 30 years of SACC-San Diego, Gustaf Rooth, will be just as fruitful and with the current president Hans Janzon on the right. wonderful! The Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce (SACC-USA) is the umbrella organization for 20 Regional Chambers across the U.S. We are a key facilitator in the development of trade relations and investment opportunities between the United States and Sweden. www.sacc-usa.org.
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Road to 2045
Road to 2045
Climate Justice the Swedish Way
H
By Anna Lindén
undreds of thousands of people have signed a rebellion against the rising fossil fuel prices in Sweden. This shows that politics has failed to combine climate policy with smart social planning across the country. And the challenge remains: to make renewables cheaper and more accessible than fossil fuels. The 2030-secretariat has taken the massive protests into account and foresee a political response where the transition is designed so that Sweden unites as a country instead of being more diveded along the lines of countryside-city and poor-rich. This will be in line with the following five key points:
Pay as you drive in focus.
Those who choose to take the car in the city should pay more than the driver in less densely populated areas – simply because there are plenty of alternatives in the city. We already see steps in this direction, with the congestion tax in Stockholm and Gothenburg and the distance-based mileage tax that is in progress for heavy vehicles.
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Convert existing cars to renewable.
Not everyone can afford a new electric or gas car and anyone who has a gasoline car a few years old will soon be stuck in a fossil dependency that might become more expensive with rising oil prices. Therefore, we foresee a bonus for converting existing gasoline and diesel vehicles to biogas, ethanol or biodiesel HVO.
Make sure that used “green” cars stay in the country.
Used electric cars and plug-in hybrids are exported to Norway, while gas cars are sold to Italy and Germany. It affects anyone who wants to drive cheaply, fossil-free and with no worry about the price of gasoline. By changing the bonus for green cars, so that some are paid out after the car has been used for a few years, we get a second hand market in Sweden and more people can afford to choose fossil free.
Increased production of renewable fuels.
80 percent of the biofuels used in Sweden are imported, with a high risk of price leaps or physical shortages as global demand increases rapidly. To ensure that biofuels stay cheap, and to create green jobs, we want an increased biofuel production in Sweden. We should demand local produce for fuels.
A distance-based, transport-neutral travel allowance – or invest the money directly.
Today, most of the travel deduction goes to car drivers in urban areas, and almost half of all deductions are incorrect or simply cheating. When deduction is based on distance, tax money is released that can be used to benefit those in areas that are dependant on the car for every day travel. The uprising against increasing prices on petrol and diesel wants to impose a price cap on gasoline and diesel. For a country like Sweden that imports all of the fossil fuels used, it will be difficult. In addition, it would make it even harder to reach the climate target for the transport sector, which seven of the eight parties in Parliament have agreed upon. Politics must and will ensure that fossil free transport is accessible at a reasonable cost throughout the country. The five key points mentioned here will take us in that direction, and serve as inspiration for other countries around the world facing the same challenges.
Fores (which includes the 2030-secretariat) is a Swedish think tank devoted to questions related to climate and environment, migration and integration, entrepreneurship and economic reforms, as well as the digital society.
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Canada, US & beyond
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Swedish Events around the World
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Museum exhibits Setterdahl archive – The lifelong work of Swedish historians Lennart and Lilly Setterdahl is the subject of an exhibit that may be seen in the Swedish American Museum, Chicago, through September 29. The Setterdahls were devoted to recording the stories of Swedish immigrants like themselves. Together they amassed a collection of almost 3,000 oral histories and 20,000 photographs, many of which are depicted in “Documenting Swedish America: A Setterdahl Family Tradition.” Lilly Setterdahl, the author of 21 books, attended the opening reception in July and led a gallery walk through the exhibit. She also signed copies of her books that are on sale in the Museum shop. Many are based on Lennart’s immense collection of microfilmed documents, photographs and oral histories of immigrants. The main goals of the Setterdahl exhibit are for the public to see Swedish Americans through the lens of a camera and to hear recorded stories in their own words. Visitors also may better understand the importance of preserving family histories. Through their years in Illinois, the Setterdahls have worked with the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College, the Vasa Archives in Bishop Hill, and the Emigrant Institute in Sweden. 8
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Living Dalahäst – Imagine suspending all traffic from a major street intersection, painting the contour of a huge horse on the tarmac, persuading 450 townspeople to don identical red T-shirts (and a few white ones). Have them stand still inside the painted contour, and launch a helicopter or a drone to photograph it all. What do you get? A living dalahäst (Dalecarlian Horse, or “Dala” for short)! Those dressed in red shirts made up the horse’s body, while those with white shirts outlined the horse’s halter and saddle. This is how the town of Lindsborg, Kansas, celebrated the 150th anniversary since its founding. The town was settled in the spring of 1869 by a group of Swedish immigrants from the province of Värmland. Betty Nelson, co-chair of the Lindsborg Sesquicentennial Committee, drew our attention to the amazing event that took place on July 5.
Committee member Marge Lloyd came up with the original idea. According to The Wichita Eagle, Lloyd’s mother Margaret Johnson was the first artist commissioned by the City of Lindsborg to create a Dala for the town. Johnson began with one Dala to be displayed outside the Chamber of Commerce, but then decided to hang a smaller version outside the family hardware store. “And then the next door neighbor wanted one,” Lloyd said. “And then my grandma wanted one and my aunt wanted one — and then pretty soon they had done over three thousand of them over a period of years.” Today, the Dala is a tourist attraction and a popular souvenir in Lindsborg, created and sold at local shops like Hemslöjd, a Swedish gift shop which has sold more than 45,000 Dalas. The dalahäst has been the town’s official mascot since the 1970s, and they can be seen standing guard outside many of the local businesses. (Look carefully at the photo.)
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“Live Dala Horse” in Lindsborg, KS. Photo: Tim Stewart 18
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Calendar & Events
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A guide to fun and interesting Swedish events outside Sweden
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CHICAGO Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640 Tel: 773-728 8111 | info@samac.org www.swedishamericanmuseum.org Ongoing – Exhibits: “The Master of Ancient Mythology” art by Bengt Lindstrom, and “Documenting Swedish America: A Setterdahl Family Tradition.” Sept 7 – Sat 11 am-5 pm: Family Fest music and hot dogs in the Museum parking lot. Sept 13 – Fri 5 pm: Reading of a new Akvavit Theatre play, “Transatlantic,” by Rhea Leman. Sept 15 – Sun 4 pm: Painting class and fika with artist Hans Ohman. Sept 19-22 – Thu-Sun: Andersonville Arts Week celebration. Sept 21 – Sat 11 am: Guided tour of the permanent Dream of America exhibit. Sept 26 – Thu 1 pm: Walking Tour of Andersonville begins at the Museum. Sept 28 – Sat 10 am: Swedish American Genealogical Society discussion of the book, “Xenophobe’s Guide to the Swedes,” by Peter Berlin. Sept 28 – Sat 2 pm: Pancake Lunch Pop-Up Café. Sept 28 – Sat 4 pm: Pippi Longstocking movie. DETROIT Swedish Club of Southeast Michigan 22398 Ruth St, Farmington Hills, MI 48336 Info: 734-459 0596 www.swedishclub.net Sept 8 – Sun 1-2:30 pm: Annual Steak and Corn Roast MINNEAPOLIS American Swedish Institute 2600 Park Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55407 Tel: 612-871 4907 | www.asimn.org Ongoing through Oct 27 – Exhibition: The Vikings Begin – This extraordinary exhibition features dozens of early Viking artifacts from boat graves, organized by Uppsala University in Sweden and its museum, Gustavianum, which is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Viking and pre-Viking objects. Ongoing through Oct 27 – Exhibition: Safeguard: Plants, Process & Regeneration – Local artists Lisa Philander, Jess Hirsch 8
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and Julie Reneé Benda explore the connections between people, places and plants. Sept 25 – Wed 6:30 pm: A Lund Experience by Brussium Karstadt – ASI’s President and CEO Bruce Karstadt reprises his lecture given at Lund University in May when he received his honorary doctorate. Also hear what he has to say about the university and the conferral ceremony experience. All are welcome! A light fika will follow the presentation. Sept 27 – Fri 6:30 pm: Henrik Williams: The Vikings Begin … with Runes – Runic inscriptions are the only original sources from the Viking world. On runestones we meet the messages of the Vikings themselves, and this lecture will focus on particularly fascinating runic items from all over the world.
SEATTLE Swedish Cultural Center 1920 Dexter Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 Tel: 206-283 1090 | www.swedishclubnw.org info@swedishculturalcenter.org Sept 21 – Sat: Cruise on the M/V Golden Eagle II. Nordic Museum 2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107 Tel: 206-789 5707 | nordic@nordicmuseum.org www.nordicmuseum.org Sept 15 – Sun 2 to 3 pm: El Grito Concert – MEX AM Northwest Festival 2019. Info at https://mexamnw.org/home.
PHILADEPHIA American Swedish Historical Museum 1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19145 | Tel: 215-389 1776 | info@americanswedish.org | www.americanswedish.org Ongoing through Sept 22 – Outdoor Adventures: Navigating the Nordic Way – People from the Nordic nations love being outdoors. Join ASHM in exploring the history of Nordic navigation, compasses, and the modern-day sport of orienteering. Sept 15 – Sun 3pm: Annual Meeting – ASHM members are welcome to join the annual meeting, where the Amandus Johnson Volunteer Service Award will also be presented.
VANCOUVER Scandinavian Community Centre 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC V5B 4P9 Tel: 604-294 2777 | info@scancentre.org | www.scancentre.org Sept 19 – Thurs 9 am Coffee, muffins and registration. 10 am Bridge 5 rounds: Full Day Partner Bridge Tournament – Hot lunch 1 pm, and 5 more rounds to follow. Cost: $25 each. Everyone welcome. Call Vivian or Helen 604-521-6714 for more information. Sept 20 – Fri from 11 am: 7th Annual Fundraiser Golf Tournament at Burnaby Mountain Golf Course. Format: Texas Scramble (Best Ball). Limited to the first 32 fully paid registered golfers. Buffet Dinner, cash bar, silent auction at the Scandinavian Community Centre. Contact Karina or Daniel Linder scansports@gmail.com for more information.
PORTLAND New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society PO Box 80141 Portland OR 97280 www.newsweden.org Sept 8 – Sun 4 pm: New Sweden 30th Anniversary – Celebrate the history and achievements of New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society. This festive event will be held at the beautiful Swedish home and garden of Leif and Gun Marie Rosqvist, in northwest Portland. The cost for the evening is $30.00 per person which includes Swedish dinner and drinks. Catarina New, a well known local Swedish jazz musician will provide music. Reserve your place with Gun Marie Rosqvist (503-466 2119).
WINNIPEG Swedish Cultural Assn of Manitoba 764 Erin Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 2W4 | Tel: 204-774 8047 | Reservations at: svenskclub17@gmail.com Sept 20: 11:30 am-1 pm: Swedes in Elmwood, tour and lunch. A continuation of the ‘Swedes from Snoose Boulevard’, Tour will recall the Swedes journey from the early 1900’s as they strived to settle in Winnipeg. Please register. Sept 19 – 7-9:00 pm: Pea Soup and Pancake Night; Ärtsoppa och Pannkakor dates back to 15th Century Sweden and lives on today. Come join in this Thursday night Swedish tradition! Cost $5.00
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[Ads] and Info Swedish Press Classified Alberta Organizations Svenska Skolan i Calgary bedriver undervisning för barn 3-15 år gamla på lördagar kl 9:30-12. Alla barn är välkomna. Undervisningen sker på svenska. Kontakta Svenska Skolan genom Scandinavian center 403-284-2610 eller skicka epost till contact@swedishschool.com. Läs mer om vår skola på www.swedishschool.com BC Organizations Scandinavian Business Club Monthly meetings feature business speakers. Guests and new members welcome. Call SBC: 604-484-8238. Visit us at www.sbc-bc.ca Scandinavian Community Centre Scandinavian Community Centre Beautiful setting for weddings, parties, birthdays, meetings and seminars. 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC info@scancentre.org 604-294-2777 www.scancentre.org Svenska Kulturföreningen Ordförande Ellen Petersson 604-970-8708. Kassör är Linda
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Olofsson, 604-418-7703 www. swedishculturalsociety.ca. Email: swedishculturalsociety.ca @gmail.com Sweden House Society President Carina Spencer Email: swedenhousechair@gmail.com, Vice president Rebecca Keckman, Treasurer Ron Spence Swedish Canadian Village Beautiful Assisted Living Residence & Senior Subsidized Apartment Buildings Located in Burnaby, British Columbia. Ph# 604-420-1124 Fax# 604-420-1175 www.swedishcanadian.ca Swedish Club of Victoria Dinners, Events and Meetings, for information contact Annabelle Beresford @ 250-656-9586 or Swedish Club of Victoria Facebook.
Swedish Club 1920 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109; Tel: 206-283-1090. Open Wednesday evenings for supper and games, Friday for lunch and dinner. Pancake breakfasts on first Sundays of the month. Rental venue for meeting, parties, etc. www.swedishclubnw.org Classified Advertising Sales Reps wanted Swedish Press is looking for full or part-time advertising sales representatives. E-mail info@swedishpress.com for more information. Swedish Press Classified Ad Rate is as low as 50 cents per word (minimum $10). Send your ad to advertise@swedishpress.com
Washington Organizations Nordic Museum has moved to a beautiful, brand-new building! In Seattle, 2655 N.W. Market St., Ballard; 206-789-5707.
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GRATTIS PÅ FÖDELSEDAGEN Sept 8 Linnea Nordbeck, 11 år Sept 9 Isak Serhan, 13 år Sept 25 Perrin Magnusson, 16 år
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Swedish Press | September 2019 29
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Sista ordet
‘Väcker de barns nyfikenhet och intresse för läsning...’ En bokstavsresa i djurens värld
Daleroth som är i samma anda som texten. Med En bokstavsresa i djurens värld vill jag bidra till den värld av böcker som jag tyckte så mycket om när jag var liten. Mer information om boken och var du kan köpa den hittar du på www. sofiagad.se Mitt nästa projekt är även den en ABC-bok. Den innehåller korta verser på rim om tokigheter där det mesta aldrig skulle hända i verkligheten. Den handlar till exempel om Olle Osynlig som bor i en stad som inte finns och där husen är gjorda av gelé, om Drip-
Av Sofia Gad
B
öcker och skrivande är en viktig del av mitt liv. Jag skrev mycket redan som liten. Både dagbok och kortare berättelser. Under en tid gjorde jag även en tidning med artiklar och korsord som jag sålde. Numera skriver jag för barn samt noveller och poesi för vuxna. När det kommer till läsning blir det oftast romaner samt poesi för barn och för vuxna.
En bokstavsresa i djurens värld är en ABC-bok där man med humor och rim lär sig både alfabetet och roliga egenheter om djur, som att råttor kan bli kittlade och att en del sköldpaddsarter kan andas med baken. Idén till boken kommer från min egen uppväxt. Min mamma läste mycket för mig när jag var liten, bland annat Astrid Lindgren, Elsa Beskow och Lennart Hellsing. Böckerna hon läste både inspirerade mig att läsa på egen hand och att börja skriva. Jag tyckte till exempel mycket om Lennart Hellsings fyndiga verser och kan fortfarande många av dem utantill. Lennart Hellsings bok ABC var en av mina absoluta favoriter. Jag har alltid tyckt om att leka med ord och skriva på rim så när jag
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Swedish Press | September 2019 30
bestämde mig för att skriva en barnbok kändes det naturligt att skriva på rim. Boken är humoristisk och kombinationen av rim och humor gör att man lättare kommer ihåg verserna. Det gör att de “fastnar” på ett annat sätt och förhoppningsvis väcker de barns nyfikenhet och intresse för läsning i allmänhet. Innan jag började skriva boken sammanställde jag roliga fakta om respektive djur så när det var dags för att börja skriva hade jag så mycket material att det flöt på av sig själv. Till varje vers är en färgglad och fantasifull illustration av Ulrika
paren Dropp som har en lillebror som bor inne i hans näsa, om Bokälskande Barbro som får i sig kunskap genom att äta böcker och om Åke Åktur som far iväg i en luftballong som är gjord av en pappkartong.
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