the Oslo mayor and Rosa (and I)

[Lunnan & Hjort]

I thought I should report here that the mayor of Oslo, Mr
Ditlev-Simonsen, had the privilege of meeting fellow list member
Don Rosa of Kentucky _three times_ last week.

The first occasion was at the press conference on Wednesday
at the History Museum, with Rosa, the mayor, professor
Sørensen and Egmont editor Søland on the panel. The mayor's
presence was caused by Egmont's idea of having each of
the 437 (?) commune mayors of Norway answering 100 questions
about Duckburg, the so-called "Major Mayor Duckburg Quiz".
The winner will be hailed as a honorary mayor of Duckburg
and will be given a special drawing made by Don Rosa.
This is not necessarily a fully democratic process, and it is not clear
how the Duckburg inhabitants themselves feel about this. [Commenting
on the Major Mayor Duckburg Quiz itself is worth a separate message.
Some of the 100 questions are a little unclear, with no clear winners
among the given multiple-choice style answer alternatives. So
lawsuits can be expected here, with different expert witness with
differing opinions and literary references to support their positions.]

The following morning Rosa and Ditlev-Simonsen met at the
"breakfast TV" show of Norwegian TV2. They discussed Duckburg,
the influence and quality of Barks stories, and also the Main Reason
why Don was in Oslo last week, namely the world launch of
"The Don Rosa Archives" (to which the mayor did not offer any comments,
as he had not had time to read the books yet). Rosa also (briefly) met
there Mr Viggo Sandvik, another person being interviewed in the show,
and who shares with the present messenger the particular characteristic
of having been journalist reporter from the same world championships
in speedskating.

Then Rosa (and I, qua his editor/manager/host for the week) were
invited to the mayor's quarters at the City Hall of Oslo. (There's a
famous drawing of the City Hall made by Don for the "A-Magasinet"
in 1992, with Scrooge close by, speculating about the prospectives
of striking it rich in Oslo.) We had expected this to be a ten-minute
politeness visit, perhaps accompanied by a P.R. photographer,
but to our mild surprise it was nothing of the sort. We had a full hour
together, mainly in his office, which apparently very soon will have
its walls decorated by Munch, Munch, Munch, Munch, Munch, Munch
and Rosa. The mayor obviouly makes exquisite coffe and cakes.
The mayor, who majored in history at Stanford in the 1950ies, appeared
genuinely interested in literature, politics, history, education, art,
and Don's work. Don signed and made a Donald Duck drawing in
the very impressive VIP guest book of the City Council, where on
previous pages we could see autographs of Clinton, Albright, Putin,
Arafat, King Harald, Queen Sonja, and so on. The mayor signed
a heavyweight book about the Oslo City Hall and gifted it to Don
with a very friendly inscription.

Don left Oslo early this morning. We had expected the mayor to
drive him to the airport, but I assume he was engaged elsewhere.

Nils Lid Hjort