Jacques Bekaert

Belgian. Born on 11 May 1940 in Bruges. Started traveling to France at the age of three days, with mother, trying to escape invading Nazis armies. Bombed by Stukas, but they missed. Father was officer in Belgian army. Could not stop the invaders. Nobody could. From these days of explosions and sirens, still do not like sirens, bombs or even telephone ringing unexpectedly. Arrival of silent emails a blessing. Worked as a journalist for the Quotidien de Paris, Le Monde, the Bangkok Post, Jane Defense Weekly, the Far Eastern service of the BBC. And also a cheerful now defunct Belgian daily called La Cite. Lived in Brussels, New York, Phnom Penh and presently in Bangkok. Married American Shirley Johnson. She died of cancer in 1992 and I still miss her greatly. Was diplomat in Cambodia and Thailand. Retired. Wrote several books on John Cage, American politics, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand as well as a novel Le Vieux Marx (which has nothing to do with Marx -not even Groucho- nor with Asia. Takes place in Belgium, mostly Brussels near the Grand Place). Love poetry: Apollinaire, Rene Char, Federico Garcia Lorca, Walt Whitman... Cannot survive without books.

As a composer studied with Henri Pousseur, worked with John cage, Merce Cunningham, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, Robert Ashley, Philip Catherine, Thomas Buckner, Rae Imamura, George Lewis. Compositions have been recorded on LPs and CDs in USA, Italy, Belgium.

Travelled a lot from Portugal to China, and from Egypt to Japan. Love Hanoi and Vietnam in general. Working on a book of memoirs. Getting old is becoming more and more lazy. Favorite marxist is Paul Lafargue, author of Le Droit a la Paresse. A basic human right indeed.