The 1940s-1960s are often regarded by some who lived in that period, as the Golden Age of Haiti. And in reading Stars Over Haiti, Anthony Hattenbach’s adventure-filled account of life in Haiti at that time, it leaves no doubt in a reader’s mind, that that period indeed glittered. It glittered and it was gold.

In the early summer of 1958, Hattenbach left Westchester, NY along with his interior designer mother Muriel, sister Jody and his stepfather Ben sister in running Haiti’s famed El Rancho Hotel in Haiti. Hattenbach’s unusual and colorful life would include managing the hotel, and eventually a band, and that’s just the cream of the soup joumou.

Hattenbach’s accounts of life in Haiti during that period are things that most mystery and romance novelists could not fathom, even if they had three muses. There’s the story of James Dent, an American masquerading as a German noble who takes his wife to La Citadelle Lafèrrière and murders her, and attempts to bury her on the island, before her New York blue blood relatives go on an international chase to pin him down. And the intrigue doesn’t stop there. There’s the harassment when Hattenbach unwittingly dances with the girl of one of the most powerful military henchmen of the time, the murder of his loyal friend Lionel Fouchard as he drives a friend’s pregnant wife to the hospital.

On the more jovial side, there are stories of Haiti’s rich and famous: Ti Roro, a world-renowned drummer, who according to Hattenbach knew only four English words, Miami, Chicago, New York, Texas and crafted his drumming lessons for international tourists accordingly. We also meet Pierre D’Adesky, a resort developer, Albert Silvera, the owner of El Rancho, Clifford Brandt, Haiti’s richest man of that era, and an assortment of Haitian beauties Micheline Succard, Claudinette Fouchard, Madeleine Marcel, Lena Assad, Olga Silvera, the Haitian-Palestinian-Haitian entrepreneurs David and Wally Talamas, and debonair bachelors and ladies’ man Gaston Baussan, Jean-Claude Armand, Jean-Claude Appolon, manufacturing mogul Tony Acra, and luminaries of the Haitian cultural scene Odette Wiener, Ti Paris, Herby Widmaier, Ansy Derose, Joe Archer, Gerard Dorsainville and teen sensation Yanique Coupette.

And the international celebrities: Marlon Brando, Ava Gardner, Aristotle and Jackie Kennedy O’nassis, Harry Belafonte, Walter Cronkite, Richard Burton, Italian and Roman royalty, heck you name it…er them, they were there.

This was a time when three ship loads of cruise passengers would visit Haiti a week, not counting private plane and commercial flight passengers; a time when men like Hattenbach got tans to pass off as Haitian to international female tourists who landed in Haiti in search of wild adventures, when the Dominican Republic tourism board next door would be grateful if they only had 1% of Haiti’s tourists come on over.

Once the Shindlers (Hattenbach went by Tony Shindler to avoid name confusions in Haiti) made their mark on El Rancho, they moved on to if not bigger, than at least a fish in which they had a more personal stake in. They acquired Kyona Beach Hotel, which they built into one of Haiti’s finest beach resorts (Muriel Shindler’s ashes were scattered at Kyona when she died in 2001). They weren’t always about business, as Muriel Shindler had an orphanage called La Maison des Enfants, an orphanage that raised 23 street children, and had a nurse and physician on staff.

Hattenbach would leave Haiti for the last time after his mother’s death, his brain sockets filled with marvelous memories, of the Haiti that was, and that perhaps will be again…someday.

Special thanks to Hilary Hattenbach for making this book available to Kreyolicious.com.

His name is Anthony Louis-Jeune, and his talent is very much like a disputed land border: it has no boundaries. A creative entrepreneur, Louis Jeune is passionate about being an illustrator, and he’s also a graphic artist, a painter, a sculptor, and an aspiring hip-hop artist.

Based in Haiti, Louis Jeune started painting in the mid-2000s. He’s literally colorblind, and that has lent a uniqueness to the way he paints, and the way he creates. The artist recalls that the first painting he ever created was inspired by a group of orphans he spotted on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Now, his unruly imagination has propelled him to create the first Haitian comic book superhero. It’s also inspired him to create paintings like “Nely”, an abstract piece and sculptures with names like “Kosmo”, that show off his versatility as a visual artist.

Were you the type of person to draw on the walls of your parents’ house when you were little?

No, I wasn’t that type. But I would draw on any other surfaces like napkins, piece of wood or on my own skin.

What inspires your art?

It’s inspired by Haitian culture, comic books, my dreams and my personal experiences.

What are the thoughts of your parents when it comes to your being a comic book artist?

They are really positive about it since I am not only a comic book artist or a painter. I also do music. I have a hit with DJ Khaled, produced by Power Surge, and I released my first video on YouTube “Aton Get Down”. I am the first Haitian artist to record a music video in Altos De Chavon. The last artist who ever recorded there was Alicia Keys, performing the video “Karma”.

So you’ve created a Haitian superhero.

I created the superhero because I realized that Haiti needed a character that represents human rights and the kids in Haiti would have a model to look up to.

Tell us about him.

Djatawo is the name of my superhero. His real name is Alfred Apollon. He was choosen to be Djatawo, a demi-god—by Kosmo the guardian of a pyramid found in a deep cave of Pic Macaya, the second highest mountain in Haiti. [These days], he’s devoted himself to protecting the Creole island and humanity from evil. Djatawo possesses the power to teleport himself wherever and whenever he wants. He has super strength. He’s really fast and his senses are seven times better than a regular human.

Every superhero has a weakness, a foible of sort. For Superman, it’s kryptonite. What is Djatawo’s?

The superhero’s weakness is darkness.

Does your hero have a love interest, like Mary Jane to Spiderman and Lois Lane to Clark Kent?

Yes. She was born from a tree. Her name is Tanama, which means “butterfly” in the Taino language.

What is the comic strip industry like in Haiti?

The comic industry Haiti is growing up slowly, but surely. Last year, at Livre en Folie [a book festival that takes place in Port-au-Prince], a comic book was a best-seller. People are starting to realize that comics are a part of education and entertainment in society.

Where do you hope to take your career?

I want to take my career, my art, around the world. I want to build an animation company like Pixar or DreamWorks and be well-known as a hip-hop Haitian artist. I want my music to travel through ages and time.

Djatawo, Haiti’s comic book superhero as conceived by Anthony Louis Jeune.

You have a mixed media piece called “Nely”. What inspired it?

This piece was a portrait of a friend.

You also do some sculpting.

My sculptures are characters or objects from my imagination, my world. They are made with plaster, fiberglass and bronze. My teacher is Mark Lineweaver. My latest sculptures is “Kosmo”. He’s the guardian of Djatawo, the superhero character’s pyramid. His helmet is made of bronze. And I have another sculpture made with fiberglass, “The Red Scarf Curse”. It’s a magical scarf that I created for my comic book. I was inspired by the red scarf of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution.

You’re a sculptor, a mixed media artist, a comic book artist, a musical artist, a graphic artist, a comic book artist and you paint and sketch. How do you find a balance between all these forms?

I find balance by connecting their concept and choose which form of art is more important at the moment.

What are some of the important points that you’ve learned over the course of your career that you would like to pass on to others wishing to take the same path?

Follow your dreams. Fight for them to come true—because they will come true—if you are determined, passionate, patient and organized.

Connect with Anthony Louis Jean-Jeune on Facebook and learn more about him HERE.

Haiti’s got talent, baby! Please CLICK HERE to read other articles about other talented folks emerging out of Haiti.