Stefán and Laxness were fervent Catholics and urged their protégé to follow suit. Just then the Great Depression hit Iceland like a tidal wave. Along with some of his Unuhús friends he was present when the Communist Party of Iceland saw its first light of day towards the end of 1930. Just then – by a strange coincidence - his only childhood friend drowned when his fishing boat went down in a storm. Alli's first official poem was a eulogy to his former ally.
