Never too busy to engage in a short conversation, the always affable and perpetually lively Akbar was kind enough to speak with me and my wife Elaine about his being Knighted in the Ordre Nationale du Mérite later this year for his contribution to French culture
Rawalpindi-Born Newspaper Hawker Delivers Cheer and Goodwill in Paris along with the Headlines
Report and photos by Phil Pasquini
Paris: Quite by chance, while enjoying a coffee at the famous Left Bank café Les Deux Magots, when taking a break from working on an article for Pakistan Link, I happened to make the acquaintance of Ali Akbar the last surviving newspaper hawker in Paris, France and possibly Europe. Lately, besides selling the news, Akbar has been in the news. The Rawalpindi native was halfway through making the first of his twice daily rounds holding copies of Le Monde, The International New York Times and Le Figaro in his arms when I stopped him for a quick chat.
The ever-clever Akbar uses a humorous catchline each day which he derives from the day’s headlines to announce the news to prospective customers. On this day, he referred to the brazen heist of the crown jewels at the Louve museum the previous day that made the headline in Le Monde as “Hotel Bijoux,” which brought about laughter for those who understood his reference.
Each day, as he has for the past 52 years, the 73-year-old walks extensively on his rounds averaging 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) a day delivering papers to patrons in the cafés, restaurants and bars of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood of the tony Latin Quarter during his eight-to-ten-hour seven-days a week schedule. In an era before people began turning to television news along with digital sources, he sold around 300 newspapers each day. Now, he said, he sells “roughly 30 copies a day.”
Never too busy to engage in a short conversation, the always affable and perpetually lively Akbar was kind enough to speak with me and my wife Elaine about his being Knighted in the Ordre Nationale du Mérite later this year for his contribution to French culture. He was bestowed that honor by French President Emmanuel Macron, who he first befriended when Macron was a student in Paris. The award recognizes Akbar’s unique place in maintaining a dying aspect of French culture as a newspaper vendor in a world that has turned away from physical newspapers. He is being recognized for his long service in his chosen profession as Au grade de chevalier, M. Akbar (Ali), vendeur de journaux à la criée; 52 ans de services. in Paris.
For generations, the French, along with most Europeans, have consumed coffee, conversation, and reading the daily newspaper in cafés. As part of that tradition, Akbar, in his joie de vivre approach as a consummate professional, has vowed never to retire if his health holds out much to the delight of his many fans, tourists and customers that he has acculturated over the years. He confessed, too, that besides keeping in shape through his extensive walking, going about his appointed rounds helps him to, as he put it, “evacuate my personal worries.”
During our brief encounter, Akbar sold a few papers, was asked by an admirer to pose with her for a photograph and apologized for hurrying off to the next establishment in his professional pursuits.
Akbar was pleased when I mentioned that Elaine and I write for Pakistan Link newspaper and expressed interest in keeping in touch.
And just in, the French police have announced that one week to the day of the heist, two of the suspects have been arrested. The jewelry, however, is still missing, prompting the sale of more newspapers on the streets of Paris.
(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Countercurrents, LA Progressive and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)
