PHILIPSBURG:--- House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP) is honoring the memory of José H. Lake, Sr. (1925–1976) on September 5, 2025, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. Lake is the founder of the St. Martin media tradition to which the book publisher belongs, said Jacqueline Sample, president of HNP.
A commemorative post on HNP’s Facebook page recalls that the motto of Lake Sr.’s trailblazing Windward Islands Opinion newspaper was: “Love & Labor Conquer All Things” (https://www.facebook.com/HNPbooksauthors/).
Lake Sr.’s meaning to the island, its people, and press freedom in St. Martin could well go beyond his connection to HNP.
“In the 1960s and 1970s, he faced an economic boycott for reporting on government corruption and the mistreatment of dock, Landsradio, and hotel workers; and his support for unions. In the 1960s, he was declared persona non grata for exposing poor school conditions on one side of his island, and he was spat on at political rallies for speaking out against government practices on the other side of St. Martin,” said Sample.
“Lake, Sr. endured threats to his life, harassment by British forces in Anguilla, and the burning of his newspaper office in Great Bay,” Sample added. His life and struggles are documented in For Love of St. Maarten by Will Johnson (1987); National Symbols of St. Martin (HNP, 1997); and “The Late Great Joseph H. Lake Sr. (1925–1976)” online at The Saba Islander (2014) https://tinyurl.com/5n8bhvay.
“I would also like to thank everyone who has visited, or may yet visit, House of Nehesi Publishers’ social media pages, and who are supporting our book writers during our 45th Anniversary Year, 2025, as an indie press,” said Sample. (In accompanying memoriam post: Portrait of José H. Lake, Sr. by Bruce Clarke. Private collection.)
