Obituary : Hilaire Dubourcq 1952 - 2006

Georgina Hunter-Jones

Hilaire was an artist, designer, author, linguist and wit, a general bon viveur, an aviation lover and the inspiration for and co-founder of this magazine

Franklin is Frank Robinson! This was one the last things Hilaire said before he died. Was this just CO2 induced confusion, or insight from one already viewing the larger picture? Whichever was the truth, Hilaire, an expert on the inventions of both Benjamin Franklin and Frank Robinson, was someone who saw connections which the rest missed.

Hilaire was born on 13th November 1952, in New York, something of which he was very proud, all his life being a keen Americanophile. When he was six years old his mother died of breast cancer, leaving him and a four year old sister, Minnie, alone with their Dutch father, Bey.

Bey decided to return to Holland and the six year old boy suddenly found himself in an alien, war-depressed country very different from the lively Connecticut he had inhabited before his mother's death. However, inspite of this, and some family difficulties after his father remarried, Hilaire graduated from the International School in the Hague fluent in four languages and with a keen interest in and talent for art and design. He spent four years at art school in Arnhem, and, as soon as he qualified as a graphic designer, returned to the...