PARIS, France: A 73-year-old newspaper vendor originally from Pakistan is set to receive one of France’s most prestigious honors after more than 50 years of selling dailies on the terraces of cafes and restaurants in Paris’ fashionable Latin Quarter.
Ali Akbar began hawking newspapers after moving to France in 1973, employing a blend of humor and energy to charm locals and ward off falling sales.
In September, President Emmanuel Macron will make him a knight of the National Order of Merit, which recognizes distinguished service to France in a civilian or military capacity.
A native of Rawalpindi in northern Pakistan, Akbar began by hawking copies of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo to students in the Sorbonne and neighboring institutions.
Kerb-side newspaper sellers were already a dying breed in Paris in the 1970s as television steadily replaced the printed word as the main source of news — a process that only accelerated with the advent of the Internet.
But Akbar, the last remaining newspaper vendor still walking the streets of the French capital, has managed to keep the tradition alive with his ready smile, cheeky sense of humor and sheer dedication.
“I just love the feel of paper,” Akbar said. “I don’t like tablets and all that kind of stuff. But I do like reading. Whatever the type. Real books. But never on screens.”
“I have a certain way of selling newspapers. I try to make jokes. So people laugh. I try to be positive and I create an atmosphere... I try and get into people’s hearts, not their pockets,” he said.
But the job has become much harder in the era of digital publishing.
“I sell about 20 copies of Le Monde in eight hours. Everything is digital now. People just don’t buy newspapers,” he said.
Despite such challenges, Akbar intends to sell newspapers as long as his health permits.
In a district where high-end fashion boutiques and eateries have largely replaced the bookstores that once nourished some of the world’s most renowned 20th century philosophers, many locals say he’s one of the things that keeps the Latin Quarter genuine.
“Ali is an institution. I buy Le Monde from him every day. In fact, we do a little more than buy Le Monde for him. We have coffee with him, sometimes we have lunch with him,” said one grateful customer, Marie-Laure Carriere.
