Al Prince

Al Prince (died April 8, 2010) was an American-born French Polynesian journalist and tourism expert. Prince was regarded as one of French Polynesia's leading experts on tourism for more than 39 years.[1]

Prince was born and raised in the New England region of the northeast United States.[1] He began his career in journalism in Texas, before moving to Tahiti in 1971[1] with his then wife, journalist Jan Prince.[2] According to a February 27, 1983, article in the Milwaukee Journal, "Prince was working for the Houston Post when someone told him about an ad for a reporter in the Tahiti Bulletin. He recalls telling himself, 'Tahiti sounds more interesting than Texas', and so he made the move."[1] Prince and his wife divorced in the early 1980s, but continued to collaborate on several French Polynesian publications, including Tahiti Today magazine and the weekly, English-language newspaper Tahiti Sun Press, which is now the Tahiti Beach Press.[2]

Prince worked as a journalist, based in Tahiti, for nearly 40 years.[1] He wrote his first stories in French Polynesia for the Tahiti Bulletin, where he also served as its publisher.[1] In the 1990s, Prince began working as a writer for the GIE Tahiti Tourisme, which promotes and markets French Polynesia as a tourist destination.[1] Prince also worked for GIE Perles de Tahiti, an entity which promotes Tahitian black pearls overseas.[1]

In 2002, Al Prince began reporting for Tahitipresse, the bilingual French-English online press agency of the Agence Tahitienne de Presse (Tahiti Press Agency), or ATP.[1] He continued to write for Tahitipresse until shortly before his death in 2010.[1]

Al Prince died of a lengthy illness in Tahiti on April 8, 2010, at the age of 67.[1]