Forgotten Hero — Now Remembered    March 12th 2021 

This was the first in our series of online talks about the Arctic and was very well received. The speaker, Dr Ken Stewart, has given lectures on Dr John Rae before but not hitherto on Zoom! Despite this, his presentation flowed smoothly and engrossed his audience for an hour. In the discussion which followed no one appeared to be in a hurry to leave, and enthusiastic comments poured in by email that evening and over the next few days. Many from that audience are knowledgeable on the subject of Rae but all said they had learned something new that evening. 

Ticket sales raised £222 and we have since received over £250 in donations, £100 of which came from Dr Stewart, who waived his £100 speaker fee. Ticket holders may watch the talk again for free, if they choose, and anyone who missed it may have another chance, as our speaker might do a follow-up later in the year: in which case we might offer a repeat viewing. 

Many who live at a distance from Orkney have said that they valued the opportunity to join in one of the Society’s activities. In the light of this we are considering a second series next winter, Covid or no Covid! 

Fiona Gould and James Grieve