Johannes H. Berg Jr.
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Johannes H. Berg Jr. (23 September 1956 – 29 April 2004), Norwegian science fiction & fantasy fandom enthusiast, club founder, convention organiser, fanzine writer, and J.R.R. Tolkien book translator.
Johannes Berg, from Oslo, Norway, was a cornerstone of the Norwegian science fiction and fantasy fandom scene from the 1970s, with Oslo's SF club Aniara and all through the next several decades until his death from cancer of the liver in 2004. He was active in the whole Scandinavian fandom community, organising and participating in SF/F conventions over a period of more than twenty five years. Berg was also a knowledgeable and highly regarded founding member of the Norwegian Tolkien society, Arthedain, and he translated Tolkien's books Leaf by Niggle and On Fairy-Stories into Norwegian; both were published in 1995. He also acted as a consultant for the subtitling of the The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
In addition to his interests in science fiction and fantasy literature, Berg was an accomplished role player, board game player, and wargamer, and was a central figure in Oslo's role & board playing society Ares and its annual convention Arcon. As the translator of the Dungeons & Dragons basic set (the so-called blue and red books) to Norwegian, he was instrumental in the introduction and popularization of role-playing games in Norway.
His daily job was at the Norwegian Museum of Technology. During the last years of his life, Johannes Berg worked on a Master's thesis on the history of the Norwegian flag, and was instrumental in consolidating all the country's various fandom societies and clubs into a nationwide umbrella organisation, called Hyperion/N4F.
It is a measure of his dedication to SF/F fandom that, although severely weakened by his condition, he spent the last weekend of his life at an SF convention in Bergen, several hundred miles from his home in Oslo.
External links
- Summary obituary notice from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (http://www.sfwa.org/News/jberg.htm) (SF/F and Publishing News)
- RIP Johannes H. Berg (1956-2004) (http://www.plokta.com/pnn//stories.php?story=04/04/30/0731822) (The Plokta News Network)
- Remembrance webpage, with photo (http://remembrance.fandom.no/) (fandom.no)