Author, columnist, producer, TV presenter and even lyricist: it is a true monument of Quebec culture that collapses with the death of Denise Bombardier this morning.
• Also read: In the end I will never have had dinner with M.Me B.
• Also read: Denise Bombardier has passed away
It’s been almost 50 years since Denise Bombardier entered the cultural landscape of Quebec, first behind the scenes of the small screen as a researcher for Radio-Canada’s Today television show. Her path then quickly led her in front of the cameras, where she piloted Trait-d’union, Noir sur blanc, Raison passion, Lesidées lumière and Le point, still with the state company.
She later joined the TVA 22 heures team as an editor alongside Sophie Thibault. A leap across the Atlantic enabled him to present À boulets rouges on the French broadcaster La Cinq in the early 1990s.
Denise Bombardier has never been allergic to controversy or controversy, and thanks to her outspokenness and powerful exchanges — never silenced — she has made a name for herself that has consistently drawn violent reactions. We think, among other things, of her confrontation with Gabriel Matzneff in 1990 on the set of Apostrophes on TF1, where she reprimanded the French writer for his stated sexual attraction to children.
Denise Bombardier died shortly before 6 a.m. this morning of complications from a serious illness. She was 82 years old.
- Hear the reactions of Gilles Proulx and Pierre Karl Péladeau‘broadcast by Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet via QUB radio:
Celine Dion’s accomplice
Beyond her studies in Political Science and Sociology, Denise Bombardier has always made it a point to follow cultural news from here and elsewhere.
Among her most notable engagements was accompanying Celine Dion around the planet as part of the Taking Chances world tour in 2008 and 2009, an experience that led to the book The Enigmatic Celine Dion.
“Even if I were aware of its worldwide fame, I could not guess the level of recognition and affection it aroused on the planet,” recalled Denise Bombardier in a column published on our site last May.
At the request of René Angélil, the author also signed the lyrics of the song La Diva, which appeared on the album D’elles released in 2007.
The literary world will remember her for her novels and essays such as Edna, Irma and Gloria, More Mad Than That You Die!, Jackpot, At the Risk of Displeleasing and About a Moralist.
shock wave among artists
Denise Bombardier’s death therefore sent a shockwave through Quebec’s artistic community when it was announced this morning. Among the members she was closely associated with throughout her career, producer Denise Robert recalled the woman she befriended who lived in the same building as her in Florida.
“Denise defended some of her ideas in a breathtaking way. But I remember behind that image of a strong woman, she was like a little girl. I have seen her cry many times for reasons as trivial as the fact that someone had written something that hurt her. She was like a little girl who hid her feelings and her fragility,” says the producer of the films Les Invasions Barbares and De père en cop, who was joined by Le Journal in the morning.
Her friend Sophie Thibault, director of the TVA antenna, was in shock after the death of Denise Bombardier.
“It comes as a surprise to a lot of people who haven’t been in particularly close contact with Denise. There are a lot of angry people here this morning. Nobody expected that. i heard it yesterday [lundi] his health was not very good. He’s the kind of person you think is eternal. Such energy, such intelligence, such vitality… you can’t imagine it’s going to end one day,” she told LCN.
-With Maxime Demers and TVA Nouvelles
PUBLICATIONS BY DENISE BOMBARDIER
The Voice of France, Robert Laffont, 1975
A childhood with holy water, Seuil, 1985
The Evil of the Soul with Claude Saint-Laurent, 1989
Heartbreak, Threshold, 1990
The Defeat of the Sexes, Seuil, 1993
Our Men, Threshold, 1995
Love me one another, Threshold, 1999
Open letter to the French who believe they are the center of the world, Albin Michel, 2000
Phew!, Albin Michel, 2002
Words of a Moralist, Vlb Montreal, 2003
And what else!, Albin Michel, 2004
Without Complacency, Vlb Montreal, 2005
Edna, Irma and Gloria, Albin Michel, 2007
Our dear friends, Albin Michel, 2008
The enigmatic Celine Dion, Fixot, 2009
At the risk of displease, Vlb, 2009
The Englishman, Robert Laffont, 2012
Dictionary of Quebec Lovers, Plön, 2014
Jackpot, Fayard, 2015
You die even crazier!, Flammarion, 2017
A life without fear and without regrets. Memoirs, Plön, 2018
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