The New Voodoo Review

-featuring Odette Latour Wiener's ballet troupe Barcoulou. 

 

 

Aubelin Jolicoeur on terrasse of Hotel Oloffson in 1981

 

The bar at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

WHAT IS A BOULEVARDIER?

boulevardier n. a fashionable, sophisticated man-about-town who treats life with a light-hearted cynicism.

Propre au theatre de boulevard. Les caracteres du theatre, de l'esprit de boulevard.

A Paris, personne qui frequente les grands boulevards.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What are we? An organization? A club?

I prefer to think of us as a conspiracy.

Why associes?

Our founders were brought together on this plane of existence through our experience as associes at Reno-Depot. Retaining the title is a nod to this common heritage.

To respect the sanity of those present who do not originate from Reno-Depot, all 'shop-talk' is forbidden during reunions.

HOW DOES ONE BECOME A BOULEVARDIER?

One simply indicates a desire to do so. It is not the existing associes who decide whether a postulant meets any particular requirements, but rather, the interested party who decides to what degree they will involve themselves.

In other words, if you consider yourself to be a Boulevardier, you are.

PROTOCOL

To respect Monsieur Jolicoeur's francophonie, certain terms, even when used in the English context, retain their French spelling:

• boulevardier
• associe
• reunion
• terrasse
• Monsieur Jolicoeur

During reunions, when unsure how to answer a query or proffer an opinion, associes are encouraged to defer to a higher authority, namely, Oscar Wilde.

"The only thing worse than quoting Oscar Wilde is not quoting him."

SIGNATURE DISHES

Punch comes from the Hindi word pA.ncha ("five"), in reference to the five types of ingredient:

1. Strong: rum
2. Weak: water
3. Sweet: sugar
4. Sour: lime juice
5. Bitter: Angostura

Classic Rum Punch

• one third ounce lime juice; six ounces* orange/pineapple juice
• two-thirds ounce sugar syrup
• two ounces rum
• two and one-third ounces water
• five drops Angostura

*optional

Serve on ice, dust with nutmeg.

Pouding Jolicoeur avec Creme Boulevardier

A steamed pudding made with bananas, coconut, cassava, and nutmeg, served with an orange-rum sauce.

The exact recipe is 'restricted information'.

CONSTITUTION

Les Boulevardiers is dedicated to following the spirit and example of our patron of honour, Monsieur Aubelin Jolicoeur. Associes are encouraged to be dapper, yet ostentatious, to exhibit an interest in fine art and poetry, and to cultivate an appreciation for, and an indulgence in, friendly intercourse. They should be fluent in more than one language, and understand the value of newspapers from other countries and in other languages. Reunions are convened with a 'Call to Arms' as often as necessary. Associes should take it in turn to host, while each associe present should contribute to the evening. Reunions must exhibit a true Epicurean spirit, including good friends, good food, good drink, and good conversation, in no particular order. All are welcomed to bring newspaper clippings, recipes, books, articles of interest, music, or anything else they wish to share with the group, in addition to any tinctures they wish to imbibe. Fellowship is open to anyone who aspires to become a boulevardier. To attain true boulevardier status, one should be bilingual, know at least a few words of Creole, have read Graham Greene's The Comedians, and host one reunion. Reunions may follow any format, with certain particulars essential. For the duration, the host's residence is understood to be sovereign territory of the Grand Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, with the dining table as bar of said hotel. Seasonal adjustment permits designation of the patio as the terrasse, should weather permit gathering outdoors. The host is mandated as Monsieur Jolicoeur's personal agent, with the designated title Deputy Information Minister & Toastmaster. A quorum of four is suggested, while toasts include the obligatory to Monsieur Jolicoeur, and may extend to associes present or absent, the Republic of Haiti, Mr. Greene, and anyone else so desired. Mandatory trappings include a portrait of Monsieur Jolicoeur, the flag of Haiti, a copy of Le Nouvelliste, a copy of The Comedians, and a silver-tipped cane. In deference to Monsieur Jolicoeur's culinary heritage, the menu could include a Creole dish.

  Author's note: although the text of the Constitution may seem mildly pretentious, I have endeavoured to 'elaborate with a flourish', trusting that Monsieur Jolicoeur would undoubtedly approve.

To Contact Us or Post a Comment

We do not allow comments on the site, due to abuse by spammers. To post a comment, send it to us by e-mail:

lesboulevardiers@hotmail.com

If deemed worthy, it will be posted by the Boulevardier undersecretary.

AUBELIN JOLICOEUR, Journalist and Boulevardier 1924-2005

Aubelin Jolicoeur was the squeaky-voiced, cane-twirling gossip columnist, and rumoured political fixer who called himself 'Mr. Haiti.' Although diminutive and dapper, he was larger than life. He was his nation's most famous journalist and best-known character, a former government minister, poet, art-gallery owner, most ostentatious dandy, and an outrageous flirt.
In the second half of his life, he was proud to be known as the model for the shifty character Petit Pierre, in his friend Graham Greene's 1966 novel, The Comedians.
Such recognition served Jolicoeur's many purposes in life, which were to mix with people, gather grist for his newspaper column, confide political tips, trade favours, meet celebrities, and flirt with attractive women.
His heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when people flocked to Haiti for its exotica. He could name-drop without shame, and knew everybody who was anybody in Haiti, often greeting first-timers on the airport tarmac with "Bonjour, Cheri. Mister Haiti at your service." He wore white three-piece suits, high-topped boots, silk cravat and matching handkerchief, and carried a gold or silver-topped cane.
His assets were many: knowledge of literature, a plummy English accent, and a friendship with the Haitian dictator, Francois Duvalier, going back to their boyhoods in Jacmel. His mother tongue, as with almost all Haitians, was French-based Creole, but he mastered classical French, the language of most of the country's newspapers. His name could not have suited him, or his elaborate writing style, better. His columns, mainly in the daily Le Nouvelliste, had all the flourishes of the best 19th-century French writers.
During his journalistic career, his elaborate, often cryptic or allegorical style allowed him to survive during the dictatorships of the Duvaliers. It was doubtful whether either dictator, both uneducated, ever understood his veiled criticisms, although he was jailed twice under Papa Doc. On the other hand, the dictator once gave him a gleaming imported Chrysler, a sign of the journalist's ability to duck and weave.
For most of his life, his "stage" was the bar or terrace of the Grand Hotel Oloffson, in Port-au-Prince. Brandishing his cane, Mr. Jolicoeur would converse in brilliant French, English, or Spanish with visitors, especially female.
In 1986, just after Baby Doc had been forced to flee the country, Mr. Jolicoeur disappeared from the Oloffson, and it was thought he might have fled with the Duvaliers. But when the new three-man military junta emerged from the presidential palace, there he was, descending the steps with the three colonels, in his usual boulevardier attire. He had been given the title of deputy information minister, the man who would deal with the press' queries. Duck and weave.
He was born in Jacmel on April 30, 1924, to a French father and a Haitian mother. He moved to the capital at 19. "He went to Port-au-Prince with a suitcase and $20," said his niece, Ariel. "He wanted to put Haiti on the map."
It is rumoured that his mother gave birth to him at midnight in a cemetery that she was walking by when she went into labour. In typically dramatic fashion, he is now buried in that same cemetery.
Suffering in recent years from Parkinson's disease, Mr. Jolicoeur returned to his home town, where he died on Valentine's Day. "He would say that was because he was a man of love," said Richard Morse, owner of the Grand Hotel Oloffson.

Sources: The New York Times, The Globe and Mail


"Jolicoeur will be remembered by readers of Graham Greene's The Comedians, as Petit Pierre: dandy, journalist, informer, man-about-town. I knew him as a regular at the bar and on the terrace of the Hotel Oloffson, where he could be counted on to make an appearance each night at cocktail hour, with cane in hand, dressed in a jacket, open-necked shirt and foulard."
-Howard W. French

DECES du DOYEN de la PRESSE HAITIENNE: AUBELIN JOLICOEUR

Le plus ancien journaliste haitien Aubelin Jolicoeur, celebre chroniqueur mondain de la press ecrite, s'est eteint dans un centre hospitalier prive de la ville de Jacmel, au terme d'une longevite professionelle exceptionelle de plus de cinquante ans. Aubelin, qui souffrait de la maladie de Parkinson, s'etait retire depuis quelque temps dans la metropole du sud-est, sa ville natale, pour y passer ses derniers jours parmi les siens.

Max Chauvet, directeur du plus ancien quotidien d'Haiti Le Nouvelliste, dont le disparu a frequente la redaction pendant plus d'un demi-siecle, s'est declare attriste par la mort de Jolicoeur, rendant hommage a son humanisme, et a sa generosite intellectuelle. Il assurait la rubrique "choses et gens", resolument tournee vers les fastes de la mondanite, les delices de la jet-set haitienne, la vie de celebrites etrangeres de passage en Haiti; mais aussi l'eloge du savoir, du capital culturel, les preoccupations sociales, les reflexions philosophiques et les vertus de la societe traditionelle haitienne. Considere comme l'esthete par excellence du journalisme en Haiti, Jolicoeur se confondait pendant toute sa carriere, avec un ideal de beaute que se refletait dans sa silhouette reconnaissable de boulevardier, toujours muni de sa canne sculptee et souvent vetu de blanc. L'homme qui etait d'un abord facile, avait egalement prete ses services et sa vaste culture a d'autres journaux du pays dont Le Petit Samedi Soir, le quotidien Le Matin, et jusqu'a sa mort Le Nouvelliste.

Directeur de l'Office du Tourisme sous la dictature des Duvalier, en 1986, il occupa le poste de Ministre de l'Information, au lendemain de la chute de Jean-Claude, sous le nouveau gouvernement de Henri Namphy. Jolicoeur fut un personalite incontournable du monde touristique, un promoteur impenitent de premiere classe qui eut le privilege de rencontrer a Port-au-Prince des celebrites, notamment l'acteur britannique Sir Richard Burton. Sous le nom de Petit Pierre, Jolicoeur est le heros d'un livre de Jean Raspail, "un personnage romanesque avec des zones d'ombres certaines, mais aussi des tresors de fidelite amicale". Il a inspire le personnage du meme nom dans "Les Comediens" de Graham Greene.

Avec Aubelin Jolicoeur disparait l'un des derniers representants d'une brillante generation de journalistes haitiens. Peu importe ses defauts ou travers qu'on peut retrospectivement relever chez lui, il affichait a sa facon d'excellentes qualites intellectuelles et une capacite de reflexion de plus en plus rare aujourd'hui dans la profession.

Monsieur Jolicoeur a recu dans son pays plusieurs distinctions pour son apport a la culture haitienne. Il a longtemps vecu a l'hotel Oloffson a Port-au-Prince. Il a egalement occupe la chambre pres du manguier de l'hotel Marabout a Petion-ville, dirige pendant 40 ans par feue la choreographe Odette Latour Wiener. Il a habite jusqu'a sa mort une chambre a l'hotel La Jacmelienne a Jacmel.

Sources: Radio Kiskeya / Haiti Press Network

(Odette Latour Wiener: promoter of Haitian folklore with her ballet troupe Barcoulou. )