A great voice of feminism and the Quebec media space flies away: the author, journalist and columnist Denise Bombardier died Tuesday morning at the age of 82.
In a press release, Denise Bombardier’s family made it clear that the latter “passed away peacefully early this [mardi] morning at the Saint-Raphaël Palliative Care Home in Montreal following a dazzling cancer, surrounded by people who loved her. »
“Journalist, author, host and essayist, she left her mark on Quebec and the Francophonie with her unconditional love of the French language and her outspokenness. We will remember her for her extraordinary strength, her wit and her great humor, which she will have had until the last hour, ”wrote the family, who specified that they will not make any further comment and asked to respect his mourning “for the next few days which promise to be difficult”.
“I can’t believe she’s gone. Not her, ”drops her best friend Lise Ravary on the phone. Denise Bombardier was, in her view, “more than a symbol” for many women: she was vitality itself. An important voice will be missing in the Quebec media space, she underlines on the verge of tears.
“Denise always told the truth. She wasn’t slipping away. It has become rare,” adds M.me Ravary. There are few models of women like her, ready to speak their minds without worrying about the judgment of others, she believes.
” She does not fit was in no mold. We lose a unique voice, ”adds his friend Marc Gilbert. They rubbed shoulders for most of M’s career.me Bomber. He will remember a daring intellectual who had “a lot of courage all her life”. “She has always stood firm against anyone in journalism. Not many people have shown so much independence, men and women alike. “, he adds.
Woman of culture, Denise Bombardier had lived in Paris a good part of her life, continues Mr. Gilbert.
“But she had a lot of passions in addition to being a real intellectual. “From her youth, she always stood” straight in her boots “in front of men, underlines her friend. “She was unimpressed. There was always reasoning behind his opinions. »
“She left suddenly, but she lived well, says Marc Gilbert. She had no regrets for anything and had a full life. I think of his granddaughter Rose, because it was his greatest happiness. »
Testimonials
By e-mail, writer Dany Laferrière told The Press this first interview he granted to Denise Bombardier, in 1985, when “no one knew him” apart from his editor Jacques Lanctôt. His book How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired had just been published. Dany Laferrière says he had the impression of dreaming, because he had staged this interview in this same book.
“She received me with a big smile in a strange green dress from the 1980s, and did not stop talking to me during the make-up session, about her pleasure in reading, her favorite writers, her taste for freedom, and I was hoping she would put as much enthusiasm into that first interview. She did more by adding a zest of sensuality, and this explosive joy which made this moment one of the most memorable I have known on television”, writes Dany Laferrière, for whom this eight-minute “tango” is “the most beautiful that he has danced to words”.
Since Tuesday morning, testimonies have been pouring in on social networks. Public and political figures first underline the great intelligence of Denise Bombardier and offer their condolences to her husband, James Jackson, and her son, Guillaume Sylvestre.
Many elected officials have paid tribute to the woman of letters. Prime Minister François Legault described Denise Bombardier as a “brilliant, courageous, funny” woman, a “lover of Quebec and the French language”.
The Mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante offered her condolences to the family of this “woman of word and head. She describes Denise Bombardier as a great Montrealer who had the courage of her opinions.
Minister responsible for Social Solidarity and Community Action, Chantal Rouleau believes that Denise Bombardier paved the way for women in journalism. She speaks of a woman “strong, embodied, who knew how to stand up to her interlocutors”.
Author Stéphane Laporte described Denise Bombardier as “brilliant, in every sense of the word.” “As there are song divas, she was the news diva. A virtuoso of opinion. A smart star. She made us think. »
Marwah Rizqy of the Liberal Party of Quebec praised his audacity and intellectual honesty. “You have to be brave to refuse the law of silence”, wrote the politician in reference to the famous intervention of Mme Bombardier facing the author Gabriel Matzneff. “You were alone. In foreign, hostile territory. By the power of your words, you denounced an “untouchable”. A moment engraved in my memory, a beautiful lesson in audacity. »
Internet users have also been numerous to publish the exchange that Denise Bombardier had with Gabriel Matzneff, in 1990, on the show Apostrophes by Bernard Pivot. Denise Bombardier had condemned with calm and determination the adventures that Gabriel Matzneff had with minors and of which he boasted in his literature.
Holder of a master’s degree in political science and a doctorate in sociology, Denise Bombardier worked for the French-language television channel of Radio-Canada for more than 30 years. In the 1970s to 1990s, viewers saw her hosting the shows international present, Weekly-Sunday, Point, Between the lines, Black on white, Hyphen And Reason Passion. Note that Black on white was the very first public affairs program hosted by a woman in Quebec.
Denise Bombardier has worked regularly on the VAT 10 p.m. with the head of antenna Sophie Thibault. On Twitter, the latter wrote that Denise was “of the caliber of those beings whose fire cannot be extinguished”. “You fought so much, defended yourself, you loved so much,” wrote Sophie Thibault, whose father, Marc Thibault, is the one who hired Denise Bombardier at Radio-Canada.
Mme Bombardier was also known for her pen, she who wrote articles for Châtelaine, Le Point, News and of course The duty, where she wrote a political column for more than a decade. Until last May, Denise Bombardier also wrote a blog in The Journal of Montreal.
Denise Bombardier had a special bond with Celine Dion, for whom she had written a song, Divareleased on the album of them. She had accompanied the singer during her world tour Taking Chances in 2008, which led to the publication of the essay The enigmatic Celine Dion.
In an earlier version of this text, we wrote that Denise Bombardier would have undergone a liver biopsy at the CHUM last week, and that the examination would have gone wrong. The family clarified that she was instead carried away by a dazzling cancer.