6/5/2007 - Swedish VIP returns to Akron
Minister of justice visits U.S. ‘parents’
By Kymberli Hagelberg
Beacon Journal staff writer
Here’s a bit of Akron trivia that has nothing to do with the Soap Box Derby or the Goodyear blimp: One of Sweden’s most powerful political women is a 1974 graduate of Buchtel High School.
Beatrice Ask—Sweden’s minister for justice, the equivalent of the U.S. attorney general—says her political interest was sparked by her politically active “American parents,” Faith and David Wilson, who were working on the campaign of former Congressman John Seiberling in the 1970s, when Ask spent a year with the Wilsons as a foreign exchange student.
Ask, who is in town, plans to visit the Akron Police Department and has already stopped by the University of Akron campus, “which is now huge,” she said. On Saturday, she met old friends and local politicians at a reception held by the Wilsons.
The 51-year-old justice minister will be in the United States for a week as part of a government trip to consult with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other U.S. authorities on terrorism, drug and human trafficking, and modern police procedure.
“We are modernizing our police,” Ask said, “so I want to see what the FBI is doing, and we want to go to New York City to study their local model of increased security.”
The Wilsons said they hosted six or seven exchange students over the years through the American Field Service, but “Bea” is special. Ask refers to the Wilsons as Mom and Dad and has visited many times over the years. The Wilsons, their children and grandchildren have also visited Sweden.
“From the first day she was here I showed her where the refrigerator was and said, ‘Don’t ever tell me you’re hungry. This is your home,’ ” Faith Wilson recalled, adjusting a name tag that proudly proclaimed her status as “U.S.A. Mom.”
“She sat down on the floor and played with the cat, and she became a part of the family right there”.
“From the time she was a teenager she has been so brilliant and so strong and independent. There’s no one like her.”
Ask returned to Sweden after graduation, attended college, volunteered for local political parties and later campaigned for office. She eventually worked her way up to Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament), minister of education and, this year, minister for justice.
Ask’s accomplishments inspired Heather Nagel, an employee of the Summit County Board of Elections who visited Sweden as an exchange student.
“I didn’t know her, but we have a similar path, and I want to run for office some day,” Nagel said. “It’s been very cool to meet her.”
Ask has a teenager and a 25-year-old son who also spent a year in America as an exchange student. “It’s an important part of your life,” she said. “When you’re 17 or 18, to see new places and have new impressions is so valuable. It’s a big world out there.’‘
Kymberli Hagelberg can be reached at 330-996-3038 or khagelberg@thebeacon journal.com journal.com.