Normand Poirier (1928February 3, 1981) was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, and newspaper editor. His name is often spelled Norman Poirier. Poirier is noted as one of the first journalists to report on war crimes on Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

."Normand Poirier."
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. February 4, 1981

Early life

Normand Poirier was born to

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

parents Raoul Rene Poirier and Therese LaPointe Poirier in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. Poirier graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he played

straight rail billiards Straight rail, also called straight billiards, three-ball billiards, or the free game, is a discipline of carom billiards that is the most basic form of the game. The game is played on a unmarked billiard table, usually in size, and three billia ...

Literary career

Over the course of his lifetime, Poirier wrote for the ''

Pottstown Mercury ''The Mercury'' is a daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can ...

'', the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', and ''The

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. Having joined the ''

'' in 1959, Poirier was considered "a star" reporter of "razor-sharp intellect and acute powers of observation." Poirier's sense of humor as a journalist also led him openly travel and tour

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts. The old name was abandoned at the time of the incorporation as a borough in 1815. In 1888 ...

in 1955, while impersonating a Russian officer (the city was off-limits to Russian nationals at the time). In August 1969, three months before news of the

My Lai Massacre My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Market ...

broke, Poirier's article ''An American Atrocity'' was published by ''

'' magazine. The story was one of the first journalistic accounts of a US war crime, detailing the gang-rape of a Vietnamese woman and the murder of 5 Vietnamese civilians by US Marines of the

1st Battalion, 5th Marines 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. Nicknamed ''Geronimo'', it falls under the ...

in the hamlet of Xuan Ngoc, near

Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Với Khu Kinh T� ...

on the night of 23 September 1966. Although the magazine sent proofs to major news outlets, it was not picked up by the mainstream media.

Death and legacy

Poirier died on February 3, 1981, at

Beth Israel Medical Center Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 799-bed teaching hospital in Manhattan. It is part of the Mount Sinai Health System, a nonprofit health system formed in September 2013 by the merger of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center, and ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York. Credited as one of the first journalists to uncover American soldiers' atrocities during the Vietnam War, Poirier is also noted as the popularizer of and regular at

The Lion's Head ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, an after-hours hangout among

writers (including many

New Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ...

writers).,"Roar of the Lion's Head!."
Dennis Duggan. February 22, 1981"Between the Deadlines and Booze, A Life Slips Away."
''

Prescott Courier Prescott may refer to: People Given name * Prescott E. Bloom, American lawyer and politician * Prescott Bush, American banker and politician * Samuel Prescott Bush, American industrialist * Prescott F. Hall, American lawyer, author and eugeni ...

''. February 22, 1981 In

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

's eulogy to Poirier in the

, he recognizes Poirier as an early influence.

Non-fiction

Famous essays and articles * "An American Atrocity". New York: ''

'', 1969.,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poirier, Normand 1928 births 1981 deaths American people of French-Canadian descent Cornell University alumni American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers