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UP FRONT | HAITIAN SOCIETY: South Florida socialite chronicles lives of Haiti's elite

He loves white suits and pretty faces and counts some of Haiti's most celebrated among his closest friends. A septuagenarian who exudes the charm of a cruise director, his social calendar would exhaust even the most die-hard party hound.

In South Florida's bustling Haitian-American community, Carl Fombrun is as close to a gossip columnist as one gets, keeping the community abreast of what's going on while providing proof -- a photo -- that he was there, too.

But more than a socialite, Fombrun, 74, has inadvertently become the community's chronicler, capturing its ongoing transformation from mostly poor, struggling refugees to upwardly mobile professionals with a budding Who's Who list of movers and shakers.

''He's everywhere,'' said Dr. Rudy Moise, a well-known Haitian-American physician and immediate past president of the University of Miami's Alumni Association.

Born into Haiti's small elite class, the fair-hued Fombrun has long straddled two worlds. Neither black nor white, he has waged a quiet battle to change the negative image of his class, once branded as the ''morally repugnant elite'' by foreign diplomats.

Fombrun, who studied and lived most of his life in the United States, strives to bridge the divide in Haitian society by patronizing a hodgepodge of events from the not-so-swank in Little Haiti to the well-heeled in Coral Gables.

FORWARD-LOOKING

Yet behind Fombrun's sunny exterior hides the sadness of a father who has faced tragedy more than once. But he's not one to dwell on what he cannot change. Instead, he's always looking forward -- to the next radio or TV show he'll host, the next event he'll attend or newsletter he'll e-mail -- all in an effort to keep the community plugged in.

Take this past week. Fombrun spent Wednesday interviewing a local Haitian-American attorney on his weekly cable TV talk show; Saturday, hobnobbing with U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Haitian-American professionals at a $100-a-plate gala in Brickell; and Sunday, hosting radio programs for three different markets: Fort Myers, New York and Miami.

It's Fombrun's gregarious personality and ability to steal the spotlight -- even from presidents -- that make him hard to miss or even forget. Just ask former President Bill Clinton or Haiti President René Préval.

Both politicians appeared in South Florida within weeks of each other this summer, and during each of their visits, Fombrun managed to briefly become the focus of attention as he snagged a photo with each -- despite the disapproving eyes of U.S. Secret Service agents.

''It's his gray-hair, nonthreatening, charming personality,'' said Moise, trying to explain how Fombrun does it.

To watch Fombrun in action is to watch a maestro at work, commanding attention the minute he walks into a room. With each step, fans gravitate to him, extending their arms for a hug and then a click, a flash -- almost always with a $10 disposable camera.

''No digital cameras,'' said Fombrun, who until recently relied on others to take the photos and e-mail them to him for his Carl's Corner newsletters and website.

Though he estimates between 45,000 and 50,000 people read him weekly, Fombrun says he doesn't make any money off it. He refuses to advertise, other than a few lines about when his local cable talk show and radio programs air.

''Business turns me off,'' he said recently, sitting inside his spacious Kendall home, surrounded by reminders of Haiti and his wife Gladys' artwork. ``I've never been a business person.''

Despite his refusal to run ads or charge for his publicity of events, some have reached out by giving him donations, he said. It's a sign, he said, that there are those who appreciate what he's doing.

''It makes me happy knowing I am doing something, which I feel is positive,'' said Fombrun, who retired from Eastern Airlines in 1987 after 21 years and has had many career incarnations since -- even an acting stint.

''I represent something that I want foreigners to know exists among the Haitian culture,'' he added. 'Many times I've been upset when people tell me `You are not Haitian. You are Cuban.' I even have Haitians telling me that.''

PATRICIAN FAMILY

Fombrun, who graduated from a Rhode Island boarding school in 1952 and lived in Cuba for two years afterward, was born into one of Haiti's politically prominent families.

Older brother Marcel was Haiti's ambassador to Cuba in the 1950s, and dad Charles was a politician who occupied every position in the Haitian government except for the presidency during his 50-year political career, which ended just before Francois ''Papa Doc'' Duvalier seized power in 1957.

Carl Fombrun, the youngest of 14 children, served as a liaison in Haiti's tourism office and served as attaché in Haiti's embassy in Panama while being in charge of consular affairs in Costa Rica before moving in 1956 back to Haiti, where he met Gladys, his U.S.-born wife. His political career, however, would be short-lived as Fombrun soon found himself accused of conspiring against the government. He was tortured and briefly thrown in jail, he said.

Soon after, he and two brothers were forced to flee to Cuba and Mexico after being accused of blowing up a Port-au-Prince casino in June 1959. They did no such thing, he said, and eventually he moved back to the United States, joined later by his wife and two oldest children. The couple will celebrate 50 years of marriage next year.

Such experiences, said Fombrun, have given him a wider perspective about life and the world Haitians live in.

''I don't want to be Haitian-Haitian only. Because we are part of this society in the United States,'' said Fombrun, whose newsletter is written in Creole, English, French and Spanish.

Bobbie Philippeaux, the owner of Island TV, which broadcasts to 400,000 households on Comcast's Channel 19 in Miami-Dade and Channel 79 in Broward, said Fombrun is someone who is ``very realistic about where he came from and who he is.''

''His personality drives everything that he does,'' Philippeaux said. ``He knows people from Haiti 50 years ago, and he knows people from the United States, Canada and elsewhere.''

NOT A POLITICIAN

In a community where divisions still run deep, Fombrun does tread lightly on at least one subject -- Haiti politics.

''It's so dirty. I know it's so messy. When I feel I am getting deep, I pull back,'' he said.

But sometimes, it's hard to stay quiet. When many well-to-do Haitians demanded that former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide step down from office, Fombrun took the opposite view.

'I was called a `traitor to my class,' '' he said.

Such criticism continues by Haitians on both sides of the class and color spectrum who remain suspicious of his motives. Fombrun refuses to allow it to bother him, saying if there are selfish intentions, it's to keep his mind busy.

PERSONAL TRAGEDIES

It is what you do when you've experienced two of the saddest tragedies any parent can face. Back in 1971, the family was involved in a boating accident and the Fombruns' then-12-year-old son, Carl, was killed.

A shroud of sadness envelopes Fombrun even now as he recalls the tragedy, showing off a painting of his son. As he puts it away, he tells how misfortune struck again a few years ago when son Paul suffered a brain injury from a motorcycle accident.

''Paul cannot shave himself, dress himself and take care of his daily needs; he shakes like a leaf,'' Fombrun wrote in a letter, posted on his www.fombrun.com website, in a plea for help after a judge last year denied Paul, 44, Social Security disability benefits.

Fombrun, who also has two adult daughters, is still fighting for the benefits, as well as a way to get Paul's Brazilian wife back into the United States to help care for him.

To fight melancholy, Fombrun says he has to keep busy.

''I have nothing against old people. I don't feel old,'' he said. ``I can't be a typical American and retire. I'll be retired when I am dead.''