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José Lake Sr.: the publisher who founded the Windward Islands Opinion

A profile of Joseph H. "José" Lake Sr. (1925–1976), who founded the Windward Islands Opinion on Emancipation Day 1959 and became a leading opposition voice on Sint Maarten.

By SXM Daily · October 17, 2026

Joseph H. "José" Lake Sr. was the journalist and publisher who founded the Windward Islands Opinion in 1959. He is often described as the father of journalism on St. Martin, and for almost two decades his newspaper gave the island's political opposition a voice in print.

Illustrative: Front Street, Philipsburg. Photo: Dr. Thomas Liptak / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A newspaper born on Emancipation Day

Lake was born in late 1925 and died in 1976. He launched the weekly Windward Islands Opinion on 1 July 1959, Emancipation Day, a date chosen with care. SMN News, marking the paper's 50th anniversary in 2009, and the history writer Will Johnson both record the founding date. The FAMUAN, the student newspaper of Florida A&M University, also wrote about his life and influence in 2002.

The paper set out its purpose plainly. In its own words, it aimed to "improve the social, economic, educational, and political conditions of the Windward Islands by advocating against the causes of Injustice and Oppression." That statement, quoted by both SMN News and The Saba Islander, framed the paper's work for the years that followed.

Voice of the opposition

Lake became a leading critic of the Democratic Party during the years when Claude Wathey dominated Sint Maarten politics. SMN News calls him the "dean of the political opposition" from 1959 until his death in 1976. In a small community where one party held power for a long time, a regular independent newspaper gave readers another view of public affairs.

Legacy

Lake's work with the Windward Islands Opinion is remembered as an early foundation of the island's press. The anniversary pieces written about him decades after the paper's launch show how strongly his name remains tied to journalism on St. Martin, on both sides of the island. The opening of the paper on Emancipation Day still links his work to the island's history of struggle for freedom and fairness.

Sources

• http://smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/3620-the-otherlegacy-of-jose-lake-sr-that-turned-50-in-2009-by-shujah-reiph
• https://thesabaislander.com/2014/06/04/joseph-husurell-lake-sr/
• https://www.thefamuanonline.com/2002/01/19/life-of-st-martin-activist-still-inspires-island/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Maarten_Philipsburg_Front_Street.jpg

Source: http://smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/3620-the-otherlegacy-of-jose-lake-sr-that-turned-50-in-2009-by-shujah-reiph