Dominique Lapierre
Encyclopedia
Dominique Lapierre
Dominique Lapierre (born 30 July 1931 in Châtelaillon
, Charente-Maritime
, France
) is a French
author
.
, Charente-Maritime
, France
. At the age of thirteen, he traveled to America with his father who was a diplomat (Consul General of France). He attended the Jesuit school in New Orleans and became a paper boy for the New Orleans Item. He developed interests in traveling, writing and cars.
Lapierre renovated a 1927 Nash
that his mother gave him and decided to travel across America during his summer holidays. To earn his way he painted mail boxes. Later, he received a scholarship to study the Aztec civilization in Mexico. He hitchhiked throughout America living an adventurous existence, wrote articles, washed windows in churches, gave lectures, and even found a job as a siren cleaner on a boat returning to Europe. One day a truck driver who picked him up on the road to Chicago stole his suitcase. He found the driver before the police did. The Chicago Tribune paid him $100 for his exclusive story. His twenty thousand miles of adventure beginning with just thirty dollars in his pocket led to his first book ‘A Dollar for a Thousand Kilometers’. It became one of the best sellers of postwar France and other European countries.
in Easton, Pennsylvania
. He bought a 1937 Chrysler convertible for $30 and fell in love with a fashion editor. They were married in New York City Hall on his 21st birthday and drove to Mexico in the old Chrysler for their honeymoon. With only $300 in their pockets, they had just enough to buy gas, sandwiches, and cheap rooms in truckers’ motels. In Los Angeles, they won another $300 in a radio game show for Campbell soups. The prize included a case of soups, which was their only food for three weeks. Lapierre sold the Chrysler for $400 in San Francisco and bought two tickets on the SS Presidential Cleveland for Japan. The honeymoon lasted for a year. They worked their way across Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon. When they returned to France, Lapierre wrote his second book, ‘Honeymoon around the Earth’.
headquarters to serve as an interpreter. One day in the cafeteria he met a young American corporal, Larry Collins, a Yale graduate and draftee. They became friends instantly. When Collins was discharged he was offered a job with Procter & Gamble
. Two days before reporting to the new job, the United Press offered him a job as caption writer at their Paris office, for much less money than offered by Procter & Gamble. Collins took the offer from United Press and was soon picked up by Newsweek to be their correspondent in the Middle East. When Lapierre was discharged, he found work as a reporter for the magazine Paris Match. Collins became the godfather of the Lapierre’s first child, Alexandra. On several occasions, Collins and Lapierre met while on assignment. In spite of their friendship they had to compete with each other for stories. But they decided to join forces to tell a big story which would appeal to both French and anglophone audiences. Their first bestseller Is Paris burning? sold close to ten million copies in thirty languages. In this book they mixed the modern technique of investigation journalism with the classical methods of historical research.
After that they spent four years in Jerusalem to reconstruct the birth of the state of Israel for the book O Jerusalem. Lapierre is proud that after spending a great deal of time in Jerusalem he knows each alley, square, street, and building in the Holy City intimately.
Two of Lapierre's books - Is Paris Burning?
(co-written with Larry Collins
) and City of Joy
- have been made into films. Lapierre and Collins wrote several other books together, the last being Is New York Burning? (2005), before Collins' death in 2005.
Dominique Lapierre speaks fluent Bengali
.
The royalties from Five Past Midnight in Bhopal
go to the Sambhavna clinic in Bhopal which provides free medical treatment to the victims of the 1984 Union Carbide Bhopal disaster
. Lapierre also funds a primary school in Oriya Basti, one of the settlements described in Five Past Midnight in Bhopal.
, India's third highest civilian award in the 2008 Republic Day honours list.
Dominique Lapierre (born 30 July 1931 in Châtelaillon
Châtelaillon-Plage
Châtelaillon-Plage is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.It is located south of the city of La Rochelle and is also a suburb. It is twinned with Knebworth in England.-Population:-History:...
, Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Life
Dominique Lapierre was born in Châtelaillon-PlageChâtelaillon-Plage
Châtelaillon-Plage is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.It is located south of the city of La Rochelle and is also a suburb. It is twinned with Knebworth in England.-Population:-History:...
, Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. At the age of thirteen, he traveled to America with his father who was a diplomat (Consul General of France). He attended the Jesuit school in New Orleans and became a paper boy for the New Orleans Item. He developed interests in traveling, writing and cars.
Lapierre renovated a 1927 Nash
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
that his mother gave him and decided to travel across America during his summer holidays. To earn his way he painted mail boxes. Later, he received a scholarship to study the Aztec civilization in Mexico. He hitchhiked throughout America living an adventurous existence, wrote articles, washed windows in churches, gave lectures, and even found a job as a siren cleaner on a boat returning to Europe. One day a truck driver who picked him up on the road to Chicago stole his suitcase. He found the driver before the police did. The Chicago Tribune paid him $100 for his exclusive story. His twenty thousand miles of adventure beginning with just thirty dollars in his pocket led to his first book ‘A Dollar for a Thousand Kilometers’. It became one of the best sellers of postwar France and other European countries.
Early Works
When Lapierre was eighteen, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Lafayette CollegeLafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
in Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
. He bought a 1937 Chrysler convertible for $30 and fell in love with a fashion editor. They were married in New York City Hall on his 21st birthday and drove to Mexico in the old Chrysler for their honeymoon. With only $300 in their pockets, they had just enough to buy gas, sandwiches, and cheap rooms in truckers’ motels. In Los Angeles, they won another $300 in a radio game show for Campbell soups. The prize included a case of soups, which was their only food for three weeks. Lapierre sold the Chrysler for $400 in San Francisco and bought two tickets on the SS Presidential Cleveland for Japan. The honeymoon lasted for a year. They worked their way across Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon. When they returned to France, Lapierre wrote his second book, ‘Honeymoon around the Earth’.
Collaboration with Larry Collins
On his return to Paris after his honeymoon, he was conscripted into the French army. After one year in the tank regiment, he was transferred to the SHAPESupreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...
headquarters to serve as an interpreter. One day in the cafeteria he met a young American corporal, Larry Collins, a Yale graduate and draftee. They became friends instantly. When Collins was discharged he was offered a job with Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
. Two days before reporting to the new job, the United Press offered him a job as caption writer at their Paris office, for much less money than offered by Procter & Gamble. Collins took the offer from United Press and was soon picked up by Newsweek to be their correspondent in the Middle East. When Lapierre was discharged, he found work as a reporter for the magazine Paris Match. Collins became the godfather of the Lapierre’s first child, Alexandra. On several occasions, Collins and Lapierre met while on assignment. In spite of their friendship they had to compete with each other for stories. But they decided to join forces to tell a big story which would appeal to both French and anglophone audiences. Their first bestseller Is Paris burning? sold close to ten million copies in thirty languages. In this book they mixed the modern technique of investigation journalism with the classical methods of historical research.
After that they spent four years in Jerusalem to reconstruct the birth of the state of Israel for the book O Jerusalem. Lapierre is proud that after spending a great deal of time in Jerusalem he knows each alley, square, street, and building in the Holy City intimately.
Two of Lapierre's books - Is Paris Burning?
Is Paris Burning?
Is Paris Burning? is a 1966 film dealing with the 1944 liberation of Paris by rival branches of the French Resistance and the Free French Forces.-Plot:...
(co-written with Larry Collins
Larry Collins (writer)
Larry Collins, born John Lawrence Collins Jr., , was an American writer.-Life:...
) and City of Joy
City of Joy
City of Joy is a novel written by Dominique Lapierre and a 1992 film directed by Roland Joffé.-Plot:The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young Polish priest, Stephan Kovalski, the hardships endured by a rickshaw puller, Hasari Pal in Calcutta , India and the experiences of...
- have been made into films. Lapierre and Collins wrote several other books together, the last being Is New York Burning? (2005), before Collins' death in 2005.
Dominique Lapierre speaks fluent Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
.
City of Joy foundation and other humanitarian causes
The City of Joy is about the unsung heroes of the Pilkhana slum in Kolkata. Lapierre donated half the royalties he earned from this book to support several humanitarian projects in Kolkata, including refuge centers for leper and polio children, dispensaries, schools, rehabilitation workshops, education programs, sanitary actions, and hospital boats. To process and channel the charitable funds he founded an association called "Action aid for Calcutta lepers' children" (registered in France under the official name of Action pour les enfants des lépreux de Calcutta). Aware of the corruption in India, he organizes all his fund transfers to India in such a way as to ensure that the money reaches the right person for the right purpose. His wife since 1980, Dominique Conchon-Lapierre is his partner in the City of Joy Foundation.The royalties from Five Past Midnight in Bhopal
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster , ISBN 0-446-53088-3 is a book by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro. It describes the events of the Bhopal disaster. The book inspired Oliver Stone to make a film based on the book titled It Was Five Past...
go to the Sambhavna clinic in Bhopal which provides free medical treatment to the victims of the 1984 Union Carbide Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
The Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
. Lapierre also funds a primary school in Oriya Basti, one of the settlements described in Five Past Midnight in Bhopal.
Passion for cars and travelling
At the age of six, he developed a passion for automobiles. Each summer, while at his grandparents' Atlantic coast beach house, he marvelled at the wonders of his uncle's American cars. When he was a Fullbright exchange student at Lafayette College, he bought, for thirty dollars, a convertible Chrysler Royal he found in a junkyard. Forty-five years later, he saw a photograph of the same Chrysler in a French vintage car magazine. The automobile was about to be auctioned in Poitier. He rushed to the auction, made a bid, and won it. When he was a student at the University of Paris, he acquired an old Amil car,which he and a classmate drove all the way to Ankara, Turkey. He has told stories about how he drove the car in reverse to have enough torque to get through the mountain passes. Later, in a Rolls Royce he bought on his fortieth birthday, he drove from Bombay to Saint Tropez via Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.Awards
He was awarded the Padma BhushanPadma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
, India's third highest civilian award in the 2008 Republic Day honours list.
With Larry Collins
- 'Is Paris Burning?' —Adolf Hitler, August 25, 1944Is Paris Burning?Is Paris Burning? is a 1966 film dealing with the 1944 liberation of Paris by rival branches of the French Resistance and the Free French Forces.-Plot:...
("Paris brûle-t-il?", 1965) - Or I'll Dress You in Mourning ("...Ou tu porteras mon deuil", 1968)
- O Jerusalem!O JerusalemO Jerusalem! is a history book by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins which seeks to capture the events and struggles surrounding the creation of the state of Israel.-Introduction:...
(Ô Jérusalem, 1972), ISBN 0-671-21163-3 - Freedom at MidnightFreedom at MidnightFreedom at Midnight is a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. It describes the events in the Indian independence movement in 1947-48, beginning with the appointment of Lord Mountbatten of Burma as the last viceroy of British India, and ending with the death and funeral of Mahatma...
("Cette nuit la liberté", 1975), ISBN 0-671-22088-8 - The Fifth HorsemanThe Fifth Horseman (novel)The Fifth Horseman is a novel written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. In a suspenseful novel of terrorist threat, Libyan leader Gaddafi holds New York City hostage with the threat of setting off a hidden nuclear bomb...
("Le Cinquième cavalier", 1980), ISBN 0-671-24316-0 - Is New York Burning? ("New-York brûle-t-il?", 2005), ISBN 1-59777-520-7
Solo
- The City of JoyCity of JoyCity of Joy is a novel written by Dominique Lapierre and a 1992 film directed by Roland Joffé.-Plot:The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young Polish priest, Stephan Kovalski, the hardships endured by a rickshaw puller, Hasari Pal in Calcutta , India and the experiences of...
("La Cité de la joie", 1985), ISBN 0-385-18952-4 - Beyond Love ("Plus grands que l'amour", 1990), ISBN 0-446-51438-1
- A Thousand Suns ("Mille soleils", 1999), ISBN 0-446-52535-9
- Once Upon a Time in The Soviet Union ("Il était une fois l'URSS", 2007), ISBN 9788121612470
- A Rainbow in the Night: The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa, ISBN 9781433291562
With Javier Moro
- Five Past Midnight in BhopalFive Past Midnight in BhopalFive Past Midnight in Bhopal The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster , ISBN 0-446-53088-3 is a book by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro. It describes the events of the Bhopal disaster. The book inspired Oliver Stone to make a film based on the book titled It Was Five Past...
("Il était minuit cinq à Bhopal", 2001), ISBN 0-446-53088-3