When Bill Potter and I decided to book the tour “Highlights of Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway and Denmark,” he said that he was going to write to Hope Jahren to see if we could meet sometime during or after our tour. If her name sounds familiar, perhaps you’ve read her bestselling books, Lab Girl or The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here.
It reads: HOPE JAHREN is a teacher, scientist, and book lover living in Oslo, Norway. Recognized as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Jahren is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and was named one of the Brilliant 10 by Popular Science magazine in 2009. She is the author of two works of nonfiction, The Story of More and Lab Girl, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. Adventures of Mary Jane is her first work of fiction.
However, we knew Hope from the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, when she was a member and friend there during her eight years in Hawaii. It’s now been another eight years since she and her family moved to Norway. Her son Charles is in medical school and Hope has recently made the decision to write full-time while Clint remains with the University of Norway. Hope’s lab partner, Bill, about whom she wrote about in her autobiography, Lab Girl, got married and moved back to Hawaii.
When I was researching the dates we were going to be in Norway, I was thrilled to see that the Bergen International Organ Festival (June 30 to August 25) was going on during our visit. Hope and her husband, Clint Conrad, met us at our hotel and we walked in the rain which by now was “raining cats and dogs” to the Bergen Cathedral for the concert.
The performer was Sigurd Øgaard, organist of the Bergen Cathedral, who played cleanly and excellently: Bach, Toccata, Adagio and Fugue; Howells, Aria; and Vierne, Symphony No. 2. I especially liked the many registration changes and fast tempos in the Bach. However, with the sound of the Grenzing Stockholm organ fresh in my ears, I found the tone of this organ a little on the aggressive side. Thankfully the program ended with a quiet encore by Mendelssohn.
I’m glad Hope and Clint said they enjoyed the organ concert—they asked me many questions about organ playing and organ building afterwards. At one point Bill got worried when he saw Hope looking at her phone thinking she was bored—but she had just gotten a text from her son about President Biden’s announcement about dropping his bid for reelection.
After the concert we walked in the rain to Olivia’s, an Italian restaurant and had a delicious pasta with scampi.
After all that rain it was a spectacularly beautiful day in Bergen when we woke up the next morning, with clear blue skies, and cool and crisp temperatures. Hope and Clint met us at our hotel after breakfast and we walked along the lake with its colorful flowers.
After passing St. John’s, we entered the Maritime Museum and saw models in the history of shipbuilding.
It has been so much fun to reunite with Hope and Clint after all these years! After a quick snack, we said goodbye and are now on our way to Copenhagen!
