May her memory be eternal.
Upon doing a quick tour of the news, Bambi first came across this cartoon by Mr. Yannick Lemay:
It took Bambi’s brain a few seconds to understand why Denise Bombardier is portrayed as a beautiful angel in the above cartoon. When she thought of death, she was shocked and googled media articles about her. Indeed, the first article announcing this tragic news was from the Montreal Gazette and entitled: “Quebec columnist and author Denise Bombardier has died at age 82” (https://shorturl.at/iy469). It is hard to imagine such a sharp and rich monument of Québec gone :(. What a deep loss for her family and for all of us, for humanity, for the francophonie (she defended the beautiful French language passionately), for women (she was a great feminist), and for convictions and principles.
Indeed, as Mr. Lemay wrote in his cartoon: “MERCI Madame Bombardier”! What a lady, Ms. or rather Dr. Bombardier. Her articles in the Journal de Montréal were always food for thought. Bambi translated or cited a few of them in older posts, all shown further below. In addition, she read a number of her books, including Vieillir avec grâce [Aging with Grace]. She was eager to one day read her many other books, including Nos hommes [Our Men] or L’Anglais [The Englishman], which tells us the story of her beloved husband Mr. James Jackson (fictionalized version: Philip T. Spencer) who speaks an impeccable French, by the way. Bambi’s heart goes to him as well as to her son and grand-daughter et al.
This being said, as the world is small, Bambi once bumped into Bombardier in one of Montreal’s bakeries. She made sure she greeted her, expressing her admiration in the tone of her “Bonjour, Madame Bombardier!” For those of you who do not know her, here are some of the milestones of her impressive and inspiring career: Three years after earning a Master’s degree in political science from the University of Montreal in 1971, she obtained a PhD in Sociology from the Sorbonne University in France. She started her career as a researcher for Radio-Canada. She also hosted several highly successful programs since 1975. In addition to authoring about 20 books and essays, she contributed articles to both international and national media, such as “Le Monde“, “Le Devoir“, “Châtelaine“, “Critère“, “Le Point”, “L’Actualité“, and Journal de Montréal (https://shorturl.at/pHIS8).
As reported in the Montreal Gazette (https://shorturl.at/iy469), Prime Minister (the official name for Premier in Québec) Legault tweeted the following: “Bombardier was in love with Québec and the French language… She was brilliant, courageous, funny.”
Of note, Madame/Dr. Bombardier was named to the Ordre national du Québec (2000) and admitted to the Order of Canada (2015). Also impressively, she was made an officer of the French Legion of Honour (2009).
If all the above, including having the courage of her convictions while being flexible, is not inspiring for younger and older generations alike, then what is? As Bloc Québécois Leader, Mr. Yves-François Blanchet, expressed it well: “Bombardier was a monument in Québec’s cultural, political and intellectual arena, relentlessly rigorous in her convictions but capable of evolution and also of that sometimes brave spontaneity that nourishes everyone’s thinking” (https://shorturl.at/iy469).
May Dr. Denise Bombardier’s memory be eternal. Who knows? Perhaps she is hanging out in heaven now with her colleague from the Journal de Montréal, our dear Dr. Frédéric Bastien? Bambi will ask them to please watch over, not only their families, but also their beloved Québec (and thus over Canada and the rest of the world). May love, along with integrity, have the final word in our world.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
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