Thank you very much for writing to let me know about Kjell Olaf's death. I have such happy memories of the Tromso Congress and what kind hosts you all were that I realise how much he will be missed.
Please give my condolences to his wife and to Norwegian PEN.
Very best wishes to you,
This is very sad news. The world and Europe have lost an important member of PEN active in the field of human rights and the close ties between the peoples of the world.I knew Olav personally and liked his goodness and his humanity and continuous cooperation with the Arab pen centers , introducing us to all aid in order to do our homework in an optimal manner. My deepest condolences to the members of the Norwegian center ,to all of his friends and loved ones and to his family and in particular his wife.
I'm heartbroken even though I expected it. I spoke to Kjell Olaf a few days before he passed away and he told me that he was ready to die, that he had had a very good life and that he no longer had the strength to struggle and suffer.
He was a great man - as near perfect as a man can be. A wonderful soul of integrity and humanity. We and the world has lost him physically but his thoughts and love for mankind will serve us forever. Please convey my condolences to my Norwegian family.
The sad and shocking news that Kjell Olaf Jensen died has deeply touched me.
He was a great guy, I always respected his ethical feeling, personal courage, unlimited energy and generous, selfsacrificing dedication to the causes he was fighting for.
I was especially impressed by his concern for the dignity of the others. His help to the refugees was one of the pioneer's steps to welcome and enable basic safety and well-being to the human beings running away from death and misery. With his sensitivity he felt that taking care of refugees was one of the crucial problems of our future world. Kjell Olaf was absolutely right, and his bright example will inspire us facing the increasing refugee crisis in the times marked by racism and hatred.
I met him in the frame of International PEN. Kjell Olaf did not speak much: he used words for literature, and he performed humanitarian actions instead of speaking or boasting about them. I secretly admired Kjell Olaf thinking to myself: "Look, that is a true Viking sailing to his humanitarian mission!"
International literary and intellectual community, Norwegian and Internatoonal PEN will be poorer for one of our bravest hearts.
Please, accept my condolences and extend them to his family and friends.
prof. dr. Boris A. Novak,
Slovenian poet,
Vice-President of International PEN
Kjell Olaf was representing for years the strong respectable side/face of the PEN International,
I will transfer the news tio my colleagues in Macedonian PEN.
I am sorry to receive the sad news. I have very good memories of Kjell Olaf mainly during the Pen Congress at Trömso. He was such a character.
My condolescences to all Norwegian Pen Members
Dear friends at Norwegian PEN,
We have read the sad news about Kjell Olaf Jensen and would like to send our warmest condolences to all of you.
We have informed about his passing through our Facebook site but will be sure to send this newsletter to our members when our next member letter goes out.
Very best wishes
in solidarity,
I have found the sad news yesterday night at the internet, and I am deeply sorry about Kjell Olaf Jensen, a dear PEN colleague whose personality and work I greatly admired. I remember our conversations with sadness and with warmth. Thank you for sharing the news and the press resease with me.
With warm regards,
Thank you for informing me of the recent passing of Kjell Olaf Jensen, Norwegian PEN President from 1997 until 2007. I join you, as well as his wife and all of Norway's PEN members, in your mourning. I remember him well and his important legacy on the defense of Human Rights will certainly remain among all of us.
Yours sincerely,
Gloria Guardia,
Vice President, PEN International
Dear Carl Morten, I am so sad to hear that Kjell Olaf has died. He always was much more than a stronghold in PEN. His kindness and ever-ready support, his dedication and strength in spite of his affliction not only deserved everyone's highest respect, he was a dear friend to many of us and will long be remembered, not just in Norwegian PEN. Please give my best to Berit and tell her, we share in her loss and shall miss him too.
Please let me know, if you plan a Kjell Olaf memorial fund or something similar. I would very much like to conribute in his name.
Dear Carl Morten,
Thank you so much for e.mailing me about Kjell Olaf – such sad news, I’m so sorry.
He was everything the press release says and implies – a truly humane and honourable man, and totally committed to PEN and free speech and persecuted writers. I was always very impressed by how he managed to undertake all of that without it seeming to get in the way of his translation and writing and life in general. It certainly didn’t interfere with his great sense of humour, which I enjoyed hugely – so quiet, present, and always spot on!
I remember meeting his wife briefly at the Tromsö closing dinner – if appropriate, please could you tell her how much I enjoyed working with Kjell Olaf and give her my heartfelt condolences.
It has been a long time, but it’s not actually that long since I was thinking about you all – I was looking through the photos I have here from the Congress. I’m not nostalgic about PEN, but obviously I think about some of the people I met and worked with, and I did very much enjoy working with Kjell Olaf, you and Ole Gunnar (and I appreciated the wonderful absence of grandeur and pomposity in the Congress that you achieved).
All Kjell Olaf’s friends in PEN and beyond will miss him very much and I’m very sorry for your loss.
With best regards
Dear Carl Morten
I was so sorry to hear about Kjel Olaf. I knew he was struggling. I hadn't seen him for several years, but as with all the friends in PEN, he has a place in my thoughts and memory and always will.
Dear friends,
We have heard that dear Kjell Olav has passed away.
Expected, because he made his own decision and said farewell to all friends, yet it hurts.
He had been with us many times, despite his respiratory failure which made his life quite difficult.
Please accept our condolences to PEN family, Norway and also Turkey, we have lost a sincere friend.
Dear President and colleagues of Norwegian PEN,
Dear friends and colleagues at Int. PEN,
We are deeply saddened by the death of the former Norwegian PEN President, Kjell Olaf Jensen.
Please accept the condolences of the board and members of Kurdish PEN.
Mr Jensen apart from contributing tremendously in PEN International and beyond, he was a great help to many Kurdish writers and journalists living Norway and abroad. I remember the case of few of our community members in Norway who were help to get the refugee cases expedited and later approved to settle and have a decent life after fleeing persecution in both Iran and Turkey.
We will always remember his fair stances to the just causes all around the world. He was an example of how a true writer should be.
He will be missed by people far beyond any known borders .
We are really sorry for this loss.
On behalf of the board and members of Kurdish PEN
Berivan Dosky
Co-President
Varme, kunnskap, engasjement og humor var ting jeg satt pris på hos deg kjære Kjell Olaf. Og så hadde jeg ofte glede av dine store kunnskaper om den frankofone litteraturen. Siste møte på sykehuset gjorde dupt inntrykk på meg. Hvil i fred.
Tankene mine er også hos deg Berit.
Asbjørn
Kjære Kjell Olaf
Jeg er stolt over å ha kunnet kalle deg min venn. Du har betydd mye – med ditt pågangsmot, din humor og din vilje til seier, selv i de mest umulige situasjoner. Jeg vil alltid huske med en merkelig form for glede den siste samtalen vi hadde, ved din sykeseng 26. juni.
Kjære Kjell Olaf
Takk for alt du lærte meg, for din vennlighet og ditt engasjement og at du ikke bare var min sjef, men også min venn. Jeg savner deg veldig.
Kjære Kjell Olaf
Takk for alt du ville dele og all tålmodighet med en som kunne langt mindre og kjente langt færre. Som alle gode læremestre hadde du evnen til både å se andre og inspirere gjennom egen entusiasme og pågangsmot. Det var godt å oppleve ditt og Berits sterke samhold. Varme tanker til Berit i stillheten etter deg.
Kjære Kjell Olaf, savnet er og blir merkbart i PEN - både her i Norge og internasjonalt. Din trygghet, din rikhet på kunnskap og omsorg og ditt ukuelige pågangsmot har inspirert oss alle. Vi skal minne deg ved å styrke kampen for ytringsfrihet ute og hjemme, og ved å huske dine mange kloke litterære inspirasjoner. I ærbødighet: takk!
Til Kjell Olaf Jensen.
Mange nordmenn er litt mer ensomme i dag, kjære Kjell Olaf Jensen, for vi må klare oss litt mer selv nå, når du har fått full fred fra jordelivet. Ja, vi vet at du har vært veldig syk i det siste, du som var slik en guide, en redningsmann for oss til vår egen hverdagens livsnytelse. Takk for det Kjære Kjell! Jeg lært masse fra deg. Jeg må takke deg Maestro! Hver gang du prøvde å komme til oss, til å gi oss svarer via meldinger, via sms uansett din alvorlig helsetilstand. Din oppmerksomhet er vakrere enn en blomst på marken. Du som var så opptatt av menneskerettigheter. Du har fått en høy status. Kjell, vi høres gjennom bøkene dine, gjennom gode eksempler du ga oss! Du som var en våken mann på så mange vis, når du nå har sovnet stille inn står det sikkert også, nærmest Gud. Bare et nakent ord helt til slutt: Respekt Maestro!
Av Gilles Dossou-Gouin
Forfatter