OBITUARY: Jocelyn Rose, all-terrain journalist… but at her own pace

Jocelyn Rose, a career journalist in the Mauritian press, tiptoed away at the age of 64, following a long and trying illness. His legendary beret always screwed on his head, his signature in civilian life, and his inseparable notebook, Jocelyn Rose - for his colleagues who worked with him in the editorial rooms of Le Mauricien/Week-End or l'express “will remain this all-terrain journalist, present alongside those who, usually, find themselves on the fringes of the daily Mainstream. But at his own pace, and that nothing else, even hot news, will disturb. With this personal and professional predisposition, but above all his innate good nature, Jocelyn Rose was very comfortable with his interlocutors, whether they were in the field politics, the trade union world, even the legal world or even in the different regions, whether in Mauritius or Rodrigues. He also had an address book of professional contacts that could still surprise those who still think of themselves today as press leaders. His discretion was his professional mark. Across the island, the regions, above all and above all, the inhabitants of these places, even in the depths of Mauritius or Rodrigues, had no secrets for him. Whether within the express, where he initially cut his teeth - before joining the Le Mauricien group, and where he worked professionally until his illness forced him to rest - he was always able to make the regional pulse beat in an intrusive national news story. And it will not be without eternal regrets that his many comrades from Flic-en-Flac, where he lived, will struggle to fill the void left by his departure. But this was not Jocelyn Rose's only professional strength; he was a news reporter and a legal columnist on whom the news could count. He devoted a large part of his life to informing the public with rigor and honesty. A passionate and respected journalist, he leaves behind the memory of a dedicated professional, always close to this field which he missed in the last part of his life. The funeral of Jocelyn Rose took place yesterday morning in the church Saint-François-dâAssises, in Pamplemousses, village where he grew up in the heart of generous nature. During a ceremony full of strong emotions, presided over by the Bishop Emeritus of Port-Louis, Cardinal Maurice E. Piat, the latter - who knew and accompanied him for many years - made him a vibrant tribute, saluting him as a man deeply attached to human values and to his profession as a journalist. Fellow journalists from the editorial offices he frequented had made the trip to the Saint-François-dâAssise church for