The Days of "Ti Barbe": Papa Doc's PR Man

 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier

Shortly after I arrived on the island, I paid a visit to Jerry Morrison's home. He was the newly appointed public relations man for Papa Doc. His home was a spectacular sight to behold. Set deep in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, it had once been owned by Claude Chancy, an elite Haitian. I felt a little apprehensive getting out of my car, as there were not only two armed body guards standing by the front gate, but also two big, black Doberman Pinchers.

Jerry, known as "Ti Barbe," (Creole for Little Beard) because of his red goatee, was all smiles at my arrival. He was dressed in a safari jacket with a pith helmet covering his bald head. He also wore a 45 caliber pistol on his hip, dark sunglasses (night and day) and resembled the "great white hunter."

 Luce Turnier Drawing 23/7/48

From the living area, furnished with rattan fan chairs imported from Hong Kong, one could gaze out over the city and the sea. His art collection was by far the greatest array I had yet to see in any private home on the island. There were magnificent Haitian paintings by Luce Turnier, Obin, Lazard, and Dorcely. He said his home was to be a museum for celebrities visiting Haiti from abroad and all the painting were given to him on consignment, not purchased.

Several months prior to our arrival in Port-au-Prince, my mother introduced me to Jerry in New York. During that time, he lived in a four story walk-up loft off 10th St. in Greenwich Village. His living room was cluttered with huge black and white nude photos of Louis Armstrong smoking pot. Not far from the skylight hung a swing, extending twenty-five feet down from the ceiling, where he could swing from wall to wall. The master bedroom had an inverted parachute covering the ceiling with an abstract painting of a sex orgy. He shared this unusual pad with a roommate named Chic Cardale, a man who sported a pencil-thin mustache and looked like someone out of a Dick Tracy cartoon. Chic explained he'd been deported from Bolivia by the local government while working on a major tin mine project.

When Morrison left New York for Haiti, we were all invited to his bon voyage party. It took place aboard a freighter in Brooklyn. His state-room was stocked with gifts for the "Royal Family" including a black suit for the Doc's inauguration, purchased from Barneys and a monstrous art deco lamp for Duvalier's daughter, a freezer filled with American steaks and of course, the two guard dogs.  He'd gambled and won. Duvalier hadn't even been elected yet, but his inaugural suit was on its way to Port-au-Prince.

"Ti Barbe" was at the right place at the right time in Haiti. Francois Duvalier was running as a candidate for president. Jerry went down as a freelance photographer to cover the elections with his good friend, Zoot Sims, the saxophone player. He met Papa Doc at a local private reception and promised to deliver a favorable article to Life Magazine on his behalf. In turn, Duvalier promised Jerry, should he become President, he'd hire him as his public relations man. Duvalier won and Jerry went from rags to riches overnight.

He was given a $25,000 salary, a beautiful estate, the first white Corvette convertible in Haiti and all he could steal. He had an office in the palace and anyone coming to Haiti in search of business opportunities had to go through him first. One phone call to Las Vegas to the "boys" and he was paid $120,000 under the table for an all-exclusive gambling contract for the island. No other casinos were allowed to operate. This group was represented by Jack Friedlander, who had formerly been in Cuba and Miami where he ran the old "Island Club Casino." One night, Jack revealed to me he'd been indicted in the States in the early fifties by the Kefauver hearings for organized racketeering and crime. The group also included the Cellini brothers and Cliff Jones, the former Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. They eventually all left Haiti because of the unstable political atmosphere.

Jerry, in spite of street smarts, was not a diplomat. He started a newspaper called, "The Port-au-Prince Times," that heavily criticized Duvalier's opponents as well as innocent people with little or nothing to do with politics. But due to Jerry's insidious personality and close relationship to Clement Barbot, who, in an attempted coup, had been eliminated by the Duvaliers, Jerry was eventually dismissed from his duties. Once again he was on a plane back to the Big Apple. 

The last time I saw him was on Huntley and Brinkley on NBC in 1962 denouncing Papa Doc as a voodoo priest who endorsed human sacrifices. There were rumors indicating he died of AIDS in Jamaica twenty years later.

Albert Silvéra and The El Rancho Hotel

The hotel industry in Haiti started to blossom in the late fifties. During the Administration of Estimé, the World's Fair was held in Haiti in 1949. The President encouraged entrepreneurs such as Albert Silvera of El Rancho, Robert Baussan of Ibo Lele and Dr. Assad of Villa Creole to convert their private homes into hotels. All the hotels had swimming pools and offered a warm personalized charm. This made Haiti a unique destination compared to other islands that had been developed by large foreign chains and outside investors. There was no jet airport at the time and beach resorts had not yet been developed as unpaved rocky roads made the beaches virtually inaccessible.

Albert Silvera was the catalyst who finally enticed my family to Haiti by leasing them the El Rancho Hotel. Originally, Albert had built the main structure as his private home. When I first met him, I thought he was the most striking-looking man I had ever met. He was a forty-seven year old Haitian Syrian Italian Jew, approximately six feet tall, graying at the temples, and slightly resembling a tall Indian version of Rossano Brazzi, the Italian actor. He wore Jacque Fath ties and custom made Italian suits with spread collar shirts from Paris. He had his own plane, Arabian show horses, a yacht, a black Mercedes 300 sel, a Rolls Royce Corniche, and the first Lamborghini Miura I had ever seen that he later sold to Jean-Claude Duvalier's in-laws, the Bennetts. He loved gorgeous women and was never without one on his arm.

Albert had been twice divorced and had four beautiful daughters educated abroad. After he leased the Hotel to us, he retired to Paris, where he had been raised as a young man.

Years later, I came to know Albert more intimately as he eventually returned to Haiti, remarried and reinstated himself as operator of the El Rancho Hotel. He sold the hotel in 1986, to a group of foreign investors from Philadelphia. They were more interested in a casino operation than running a hotel. In 1989, he died of pancreatic cancer just a few years after his eldest daughter died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1991, his wife and daughters, through a major legal battle, once again took back control of the hotel.

The El Rancho is still in business today. Here's a blurb from their official website.

Nestled in the hills of Pétion-Ville, it was built from the private estate of Albert Silvéra, a world known sports and prestigious car collector and one of the pioneers of the Hotel Industry in Haiti. The El Rancho Hotel is THE meeting place for celebrities and personalities such as Richard Burton, André Malraux, Leonel Fernandez and Wycleff Jean, to name a few. The El Rancho Hotel is at 30 minutes by car from the airport, 20 minutes from Port-au-Prince, the Capital city, and at walking distance from the shopping and dining area of Petion-Ville. It is a favorite lodging and meeting place for business executives given its conference and catering facilities, it Fitness Club and Spa as well as dining and entertainment activities.

http://www.hotelelrancho.com/

Stars Over Haiti Book Prologue

I've transcribed the prologue to the book just as my pops wrote it. After years of political unrest and turmoil, he was pretty peeved about how things had been handled by the US et al. He sounds quite angry here but he was not an angry man. Anyone who knew him would be hard pressed to recall a single time he raised his voice. (Unlike Grandma Murial, she was a yeller, especially when she got her drink on.) 

 Chris, Pops and I in Haiti in 1982

One of the first times I remember seeing Pops get mad was in 1978. I can't remember what ticked him off but he came out of the house where we lived with our mom in a huff and kicked the tire on his jalopy Jaguar. He always wore soft leather loafers and this day was no exception. After jamming his shoe into the tire's hard rubber, he hopped back, hunched over and nursed his aching toe. My brother, Chris, and I fell into hysterical fits of laughter which only added to the poor man's frustration. But he was a good sport and had a great sense of humor as evidenced by the colorful anecdotes in his book.

Prologue 2001:

Stars Over Haiti was originally released as Hot Times in Haiti in 1994, and briefly distributed by Barnes & Noble, Books and Books and Borders in South Florida, as well as in Haiti where it sold out immediately. Due to the publisher's financial difficulties and personal problems, back orders were never fulfilled and no further distribution was possible.

In eleven years since the book's release, Haiti has once again degenerated to anarchy, civil unrest, violent street gangs, political assassinations, kidnapping of the bourgeois on a daily basis, police corruption, lack of a working justice system, and feuding drug cartels.

In January of 1994, President Clinton assisted Aristide's return by US military force, ousting the military junta that had been in control since the coup d'état on September 30, 1991. Prior to the troops actually landing, former President Jimmy Carter went to negotiate with General Raul Cedras, head of the Hatitian military, and offered him terms of surrender: nineteen million in cash for him and his family, safe escort to live happily ever after in Panama and leasing his properties to the US State department. General Cedras accepted the terms without delay. Meanwhile, the leader of the coup, Chief of Police Michelle Francois, left quickly to Honduras (with no extradition laws) with an unsaid amount of money (I want to make it clear Cedras was not responsible for the coup.)

Upon Aristide's return, the economic embargo of Haiti set forth by OAS was terminated. Once again people were optimistic, only to be disappointed by Aristide's lack of political experience in running a country which was dominated by one political party ruling with drug money, extortion and violence.

Thus a new dictatorship ensued. Large homes sprung up high in the mountains over Port-au-Prince while the populace continued to suffer from lack of employment, healthcare, waste disposal, electricity, and proper drinking water sources. Aristide also decided to enter into private enterprises to ensure his good fortune i.e. opening the only cell phone company on the island. Although promised nearly five hundred million dollars by the International community to aid in building an infrastructure, Aristide neglected to privatize one of the utilities, a condition imposed by the International community.

Led by members of the abandoned military, protests arose north of Haiti, resulting in a successful takeover of strategic positions surrounding the capital. There were student demonstrations throughout Port-au-Prince calling for Aristide's resignation.

In 2004, the Bush administration, no longer capable of ensuring his safety, urged Aristide to take asylum in South Africa. Upon Aristide's departure, 8,000 Peace Keepers were sent by the United Nations to prepare the country for elections that would take place in October 2005. Until now, there has been no reduction in street violence or kidnapping, and the situation remains bleak. Despite the US implementation, and the leadership of Prime Minister Gerard La Tortue, the provisional government has been ineffective in achieving any progress.

 

 Dad and Grandma in her house in Port-au-Prince

On June 21, 2001, my mother passed away in Haiti. Her ashes were spread into the sea in front of Kyona Beach as she requested. I closed the house with my sister, Jody, and bid Haiti adieu.

An Homage To My Pops and Preface to Stars Over Haiti

My pops, Anthony Hattenbach, died in 2006 due to complications from esophageal cancer.  He was a bon vivant, a gifted percussionist and a dreamer who spoke five languages fluently and signed all his emails with his original quote, "The greatest talent is yet to be discovered."

In 1994, he self-published a memoir about his life and experiences in Haiti from 1958 through 2001 titled, Stars Over Haiti.  As only a limited number of books were published, I plan to preserve the memories by transcribing the chapters here into this blog.

 

Here is the preface he wrote for the book:

In June of 1958, I moved to Haiti. I joined my mother, Muriel, my step-father, Ben Shindler, my young sister Jody, and the family pets, a sheep dog named Rags, and my baby sister's kitten, Susie. I had dropped out of hotel management school at Michigan State University to join my family, who had escaped the banalities of a conventional upper middle-class lifestyle in Northern Westchester, NY. My parents had totally committed themselves to the challenge of running a first class deluxe hotel in Haiti. They had leased the El Rancho Hotel in the hills of Petion-Ville.

 El Rancho Hotel - Grandma is second from the left. Aunt Jody is on far right.

My story highlights the fun times, the madness, the absurdities, the decadence, the constant rumors, and all the unusual characters constantly surrounded by political intrigue that has lasted over a period of thirty years. All the stories are true, as unbelievable as they may seem.