I am sad to relate that Johannes Berg has died at the age of
48. I have had the good fortune and privilege to stay at Johannes's
house twice during conventions in Oslo. He started to become ill
very shortly after I stayed with him and his family in November
last year. Johannes has been the main organiser of conventions
in Oslo and was the main organiser of all Norwegian room parties
at British Eastercons and elsewhere. If you have ever been to
a Norwegian room party, (except the one at Concourse) you can
thank the memory of Johannes for the fact that it took place.
Johannes was the Norwegian representative for a large number of
cons held in Britain and for Worldcons. He was the Norwegian representative
for Interaction. He was the sort of fan who worked hard for fandom
while trying not to draw attention to himself. This is why many
fans might only know his face and not know who he was. I hoped
(like many of his friends) that he would recover. His passing
will leave a big hole in Norwegian and world fandom.
I collected some "Get Well" wishes for him at Concourse,
the British EasterCon 2004. Those of you who were not there may
want to send your condolences to his parents directly.
Mr and Mrs Berg, Tuengen Allé 10, N-0374 Oslo, Norway
or,
go to the remembrance page to write your message about your memories
of Johannes. Contributions in English are very acceptable. The
contributions will be passed on directly to Mr. and Mrs. Berg.
http://remembrance.fandom.no/gb/guestbook.html
I would particularly like to receive contributions to this
page that illustrate the work that Johannes did for international
fandom. Photos of Johannes outside Scandinavia would be particularly
welcome.
Please send any contributions by email to: wilf dot james at
ntlworld dot com and include the name Johannes in the subject
line to help me filter your emails from the masses of spam that
I get daily.
From an email from Anders Frihagen forwarding a message from
Geir Aalberg
"I started compiling obituaries and messages to the family
of Johannes H Berg. He died earlier today, aged 48, after a few
months of illness.
Contributions may be sent to the email address below, and will
be published online shortly. If possible there might also be a
printed booklet.
Feel free to forward this message to friends, mailing lists and newsgroups.
http://remembrance.fandom.no/gb/guestbook.html
Anders Frihagen"
(The URL has been amended to give a direct link to the page
- Wilf)
From an email by Bjørn Tore Sund quoting the official statement from Interaction (the 2005 Worldcon committee.)
"It is with great sadness Interaction announces that
our Norwegian agent, Johannes Henrik Berg, passed away on the
morning of Thursday 29th of April
2004. He was diagnosed with cancer in November 2003.
Born in 1956, Johannes first made contact with Norwegian
fandom in the early seventies, soon becoming one of most active
and leading fans in the country.
Active as a conrunner and fanzine editor and contributor in not
only literary SF fandom, but also in media fandom, comics fandom,
Tolkien fandom
and gaming fandom. Johannes' interests were wide, his energy and
drive were impressive - he was the core of Norwegian fandom and
will be greatly missed.
Regulars at Eastercons and Worldcons will have become familiar
with Norwegian roomparties. Johannes was always the host and main
organiser,
always friendly, always energetic, and always selling convention
memberships and spreading fliers.
Johannes' family have asked that information be spread as
quickly as possible to all places on the net where friends and
acquaintances of
Johannes may get the information."
30th April & 2nd May 2004
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