A passion that won't die
When you get older and don't take care of your health, death will take care of it, says Gaston Bellemare, whose morning routine involves walking about 10 kilometers along the river every day. , which is so close to his heart.
Although his heart has shown some signs of weakness recently, his passion has not waned and he is eager to pass it on. I hope I can give it away before I die. “Someone takes it from me and takes it for themselves,” he said with an animated tone that was different from his very calm tone.
“It's not the slowdown that tires me. It is [que je veux] to be sure that there are people who carry on. »
— A quote from Gaston Bellemare
For the founder of the Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival, the world is limitless, poetry has a unifying power and life is a series of hearts meeting. He adds with a laugh: And if they don't meet, it's because their hearts weren't in the right place!
He has been beating with the help of a pacemaker for several months. My new boss!
Today the doctor looked at his scars and said, “Go home, you're fine…” Then I said, “Are you coming to the festival?” He said yes!
However, this energy that he invested in the festival he created will soon be used elsewhere. At 81, he decided that the 40th edition in autumn 2024 would be his last. “I will wave to everyone at the official opening,” he said.
He and Maryse Baribeau are now thinking about the next chapter of their lives together. “I think we'll stay together,” he said, as in love as the first day. And maybe traveling…, adds dreamily someone who evades the label of poet… but has mastered his images perfectly.