The Flor Van Acker House

Jotie ‘t Hooft..Some do laud him as being the Jim Morrison of Flanders, because of a same lifestyle and similar untimely drug-induced death and the cult, nearly thirty years after the facts, is still very much alive. Jotie’s grave, in Audenaarde ( graf in Oudenaarde ), attracts numerous visitors who very often leave a small token of their admiration. Here, in Bruges, though, nobody ever pays attention to this street. And yet, it is here, in a small room, that on 5 or 6 October 1977, the barely 21-year old died from a fatal shot of cocaine. His friend Christian R. Drove didn’t lose any time in driving Jotie to the Saint-Lucas Hospital in Assebroek, where he simply dumped Jotie at the entrance of the Emergency Service and then sped away in his BMW. Jotie ‘t Hooft was immediately rushed into Reanimation but, it was too late. Jotie died early in the morning on October 6, 1977.

Opinions about Jotie’s writings are varied. One fact remains : his compilation of poems titled ."Schreeuwlandschap" (Screamlandscape) landed him in the world of the literary prize. One short commentary by Jeroen Brouwers reads as follows : "Jotie’s job at Manteau Publishers was that of youngest employee, a gofer (...). He was unfit for secretarial work or article-writing - in fact, he preferred to keep busy with his own affairs in his small occife . (...) Jotie never bothered anybody more did the resident cat." Just to make you understand the situation : Jotie was married with the daughter of publisher Julien Weverbergh and thus, Jotie’s job was a given. One more comment by Jeroen Brouwers, about Jotie’s literary talent " " He felt overwhelmed by his success from the very start. He wanted to work at it seriously. (...) Jotie ‘t Hooft was, in fact, kissed to death by the public. (...) When you do away with all the biographical sensationalism around Jotie, what remains is a rather primitive poetry, and neither theme nor motive have any original content." All comments are from Brouwer’s book "De Laatste Deur" (The Last Door) (1983).

"One day I shall be gone and then what?

Disappeared without giving or taking a sign

and the ruin I will leave behind is no

longer a cause for laughter."

Jotie 't Hooft

If you are travelling with a group to Bruges, you can prevail yourselves of the services of a flesh-and-blood guide, rather than a paper-guide. It does not matter how hard the guide will try to capture the attention of everybody in the group - this one even went as far as climbing on a post - her comments will be lost to all the amateur-photographers. This is not an isolated insstance. In fact, it happens all the time. And thus, back home with their beautiful pictures, those photographers will see where they have been, without having really been there.