Normand Poirier (1928February 3, 1981) was an American journalist, essayist, 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.[ "Normand Poirier." New York Times. February 4, 1981]
Early life
Normand Poirier was born to
French-Canadian parents Raoul Rene Poirier and Therese LaPointe Poirier in Worcester, Massachusetts.
[ "Jean Poirier, M.D.." Stauffer Funeral Homes Obituary.] Poirier graduated from Cornell University,
where he played straight rail billiards.
[ "1951:Sports." As they saw it.]
Literary career
Over the course of his lifetime, Poirier wrote for the
Pottstown Mercury, the
New York Post,
Esquire,
Newsday,
Life, and
The Saturday Evening Post.
Having joined the
New York Post in 1959, Poirier was considered "a star" reporter of "razor-sharp intellect and acute powers of observation."
[ "Story stirs memories of a real pro." The Prescott Courier. March 1, 1981.]
Poirier's sense of humor as a journalist also led him openly travel and tour Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1955, while impersonating a Russian officer (the city was off-limits to Russian nationals at the time).
[ "Reporter Poses Unhindered as Red in Off-Limit Town." The Free-Lance Star. January 25, 1955.]
In August 1969, three months before news of the My Lai Massacre broke, Poirier's article An American Atrocity was published by Esquire 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 in the hamlet of Xuan Ngoc, near Chu Lai on the night of 23 September 1966.[Grace Sevy, American Experience in Vietnam (1991) p 130][Nick Turse, Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American Experience in Vietnam (2013) Ch 7]
Death and legacy
Poirier died on February 3, 1981, at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, 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, an after-hours hangout among New York City writers (including many
New Journalism writers).,
[ "Years After Last Call, Keeping a Bar’s History Alive." New York Times. April 4, 2011][ "Roar of the Lion's Head!." Dennis Duggan. February 22, 1981][ "Between the Deadlines and Booze, A Life Slips Away." Prescott Courier. February 22, 1981] In
Pete Hamill's eulogy to Poirier in the New York Times, he recognizes Poirier as an early influence.
Non-fiction
Famous essays and articles
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"An American Atrocity". New York: Esquire, 1969.,
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