For decades, journalist and writer Lucie Pagé and her South African partner, Jay Naidoo, a former minister in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet, have been asked about the recipe for their happiness. How do they make their relationship last, despite differences in race, religion, traditions, culture and language? With sincerity and a lot of humor, they reveal how they got there, with passion, compassion, respect and a lot of love in their story, Of love and revolution.
Lucie Pagé and Jay Naidoo wrote Of Love and Revolution, published by Éditions Druide.
© Druide Editions
Parents of three, grandparents, married for decades, Lucie and Jay offer an unorthodox and quite fascinating guide to anyone who has the guts to dream as a duo. A well-matched couple, consisting of a fiercely independent journalist and an equally independent revolutionary.
They discuss their turbulent childhood. Lucie was born a Quebecer in English Canada and Jay was born black under apartheid in South Africa.
They talk about the upheavals of the 1990s in South Africa, their humanitarian projects, their families, their fears, their mistakes, their achievements and the future in a changing world.
They share life experiences, life experiences and extraordinary wisdom in their book. “We had been together for 10 years and the world was asking us: how do you do it? Now, we are 34 years old and everyone around the world, even presidents, is asking us how we do it! We said to ourselves: let’s sit down and write it!”, says Lucie Pagé, in an interview.
“We spent five months, every day, writing it. I’m so glad we did it: we rediscovered each other while writing the book.”
The effects of the pandemic
Jay Naidoo adds that with the pandemic, the world changed around them. “All of a sudden, we were in a situation where people had lost their jobs, their businesses. A lot of people suffered and died. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world and I think covid was a wake-up call to us: this has to change!”
“With the lockdown, we realized that to get through it, we had to go back to ourselves to understand the world and what role we should play in it. It was a call to examine our lives and change them, to live more in tune with nature. That’s why we left the city.”
How to be happy?
Lucie Pagé adds that she asked herself an important question: how to be happy in a world in distress, without feeling guilty.
“We need to spread joy and happiness. We need to spread love and compassion because that’s what’s missing. How can we be happy despite the circumstances around us? If we wait for the circumstances around us to be perfect for us to be happy, we’re going to be waiting around for our whole lives.”
Values and respect
The recipe for happiness, for the Naidoo-Pagés? “I think it’s a love story. It’s a successful partnership, despite all the challenges, all the divisions that have been created between us. We’ve established the values that are important to us and we need to focus on that. This book is a letter to the next generation,” says Jay Naidoo.
Besides love, Lucie says that the glue that holds their relationship together is respect. “We’ve had a lot of arguments as a couple. But we’ve never been disrespectful to each other. We talk about everything. We tell each other everything.” And Jay agrees.
Of love and revolution
Lucie Pagé and Jay Naidoo
Druide Editions
392 pages
▶ In bookstores September 11.
- Lucie Pagé is a journalist and writer. She was a correspondent for Radio-Canada in South Africa for several decades, since the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990.
- She has made radio and television documentaries on a variety of subjects.
- His novels, testimonies and essays are sold in several countries.
- Jay Naidoo is a revolutionary and orator.
- He was the founding general secretary of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (1985-1993).
- He was a minister in the Mandela cabinet (1994-1999).
- He has chaired several organizations and foundations.
- He devotes all of his time to working with marginalized communities.
“When we get to the counter, Jay is stopped and taken to a separate room where there are a bunch of dark people like him. I’m furious. “Is it because he’s black? Why not me? Why not him?” I shout, pointing at a white passenger. Jay has to ask me to shut up. Every time. So one day, he said, “That’s it, Lucie. We’re going separately. You wait for me on the other side.” He says he’s used to it. That people have been unconsciously indoctrinated into a systemic racism that has been so deeply rooted for years. Centuries. And that, in any case, blowing up in front of armed men isn’t very wise either.”
– Lucie Pagé and Jay Naidoo, Of love and revolutionDruide Editions
• Also read: 16 Quebec books to watch this fall
• Also read: “Marie-Lumière” by Lucie Pagé: a bridge between two worlds
