Death of Dominique Lapierre, writer, philanthropist and lover of India
Dominique Lapierre, on December 1, 2009 in India.
ASSOCIATED PRESS - Altaf Qadri
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The successful writer Dominique Lapierre died of old age at the age of 91, his wife Dominique Conchon-Lapierre announced on Sunday December 4, 2022. Philanthropist and passionate about India, his name will remain linked to his "
feather brother
", the American Larry Collins, with whom he sold some 50 million copies of their six novels.
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In addition to his profile as a successful author who has sold millions of copies of his novels drawn from his many travels around the world, Dominique Lapierre will be remembered for his generosity and his philanthropy.
For example, after the success of his book
The City of Joy
(1985), which chronicles living conditions in a Calcutta slum, he donated a large part of his royalties to "
those third world heroes who give us everything because that they have the hope, the courage, the ability to share with those who are poorer than themselves
”.
A certain sum since the novel has sold 12 million copies and was the subject of a film, directed by Roland Joffé in 1992.
In 2005, he assured that, thanks to his royalties, donations from readers and earnings from conferences delivered around the world, his humanitarian action "
had made it possible to cure one million tuberculosis patients in 24 years, treat 9,000 children lepers, build 540 drinking water wells and fit out four hospital ships on the Ganges delta
".
"
It's not enough to be a best-selling author, you have to fight against these injustices that you denounce in your books
", liked to say this son of a diplomat and journalist.
Exchange of good words with Mother Teresa
The trajectory of Dominique Lapierre will remain closely linked to India, this country for which he will have a “
love at first sight
” in 1981 and in particular for a “
slightly wrinkled old lady with a sari edged in blue
”,
Mother Teresa
.
To this saint, canonized by Pope Francis in 2016, the writer offered her 50,000 dollars: "
it's a drop in the ocean
".
To which, his interlocutor retorted: “
without them, the ocean would not be the ocean
”.
Deeply saddened by the demise of eminent French writer Dominique Lapierre, who was conferred India's Padma Bhushan for his tireless work for the underprivileged.
📚🖊️
His vision of Kolkata as "The City of Joy" will remain etched forever in our hearts.
pic.twitter.com/tiac8QycaJ
— Emmanuel Lenain 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@FranceinIndia) December 5, 2022
A true idol in the state of West Bengal, he received the Padma Blushan medal from the hands of the Indian government for his action against poverty.
His passion for the country-continent will lead to his temporary separation from his lifelong sidekick, the American writer Larry Collins.
Together they wrote six novels that sold some 50 million copies.
Among these,
Paris is burning
, published in 1964, will also be adapted for the cinema.
The director René Clément will bring together around this story of the Liberation of Paris, on August 25, 1944, a five-star cast with Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kirk Douglas, Yves Montand, Jean-Pierre Cassel... The Americans Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal co-wrote the screenplay.
When Dominique met Larry
Dominique met Larry when the two were criss-crossing the world as great reporters, going from rivals to friends.
"
One day, Larry locked me in my hotel room in Baghdad, because at the time, I worked for "Paris Match" and he at "Newsweek".
He was the only one to photograph the Iraqi revolution.
I took revenge by giving him a false timetable for a train that left Djibouti for Addis Ababa and I was the last to interview the Negus
”, explained in 2004 the French novelist on the tv set of Everyone speaks about it.
The two accomplices were so close that they had each bought a house in Ramatuelle, in the south of France, only separated from a tennis court.
The duo is now reunited and Dominique joins his "
feather brother
", Larry Collins, who died in 2005.
(
With AFP
)
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