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24278: Morse: Aubelin Jolicoeur passes on
oloffsonram@aol.com)
When I first moved to Haiti in 1985, my mother came along for a week or so
and, among other things, introduced me to two people; Katherine Dunham, who
resided at Habitation Leclerc, Martissant 23, and Aubelin Jolicoeur, (white
suit, cane in hand, quite dapper), who was based at the Hotel Oloffson.
Aubelin was a journalist, to say the least, and my mom was in the arts.
They had known each other probably since the 1940's. Aubelin's eyes, piercing, almost
diabolical at times, surveyed me from head to toe, literally. When I took over
the Hotel Oloffson in 1987 our lives and our fates became intertwined, for
better or worse. Aubelin had been forever immortalized when Graham Greene
wrote the Comedians and based the character Petit Pierre on him. During
our times together, Aubelin was trying to hold on to the past, <La Belle Epoque>,
and I was trying to get a handle on the present. The most difficult times we had,
our most emotional conversations, were during Aristide's first three year
exile. Aubelin detested the man while I defended him as the choice of the
people. Aubelin thought that the Haitian population wasn't ready to vote. Not
educated enough. Those were difficult times. Eventually, my views of Aristide
became more like Aubelin's and he would often remind me in his Haitian version
of the Queen's English <I told you so>, <I was right>. <He is a
monster>. My final conversation with Aubelin was in Jacmel a couple of weeks ago. At one
point a tear came to his eye when he talked about his predicament, but we were
mostly talking of the Ancient Egyptians, Dessalines and a book I was working
on concerning Haiti's mystical relationship with the Ancient Egyptians.
Aubelin passed away on St. Valentines Day. He would say it was because he was
a man of love, but perhaps it was because he felt alone that day. When he
passed away, many people in Haiti, including myself, lost a father.
The end of an era? No. The era had already ended. We're still trying to
pick up the pieces and move forward.
Richard Morse