St. John entrepreneur Victor Arthur Emmanuel Hall died on St. John at age 61. Hall was best known as the owner of The Kite, a legendary north shore bar that operated at Peter Bay in the 1980s. It’s still talked about by longtime residents and visitors.
The bar was so popular that it was featured on “Good Morning America.” In recent years, Hall presided over the New Kite bar located inside the St. John Bar and Restaurant in Coral Bay. St. John resident Terry McKoy recalled that Hall also briefly ran a bar where Skinny Legs Bar and Restaurant is located.
By all accounts he was an affable man.
“He loved to be around people from all walks of life and opened his heart to all,” his sister Elsa Hall said.
According to Elsa Hall, his body was discovered at his Coral Bay home March 18.
The day after his death, the news began to circulate on a popular travel forum with people whose lives he touched sending their condolences and reminiscences.
“Victor was the genial, although not doting host, and seemed to delight in my delight. He’d spent time working in the states and well understood the pure happiness of arriving on St. John. I returned to The Kite several times during that first trip,” one poster named Lex wrote.
Hall was also a musician who sold his CDs whenever he had the opportunity. Elsa Hall said her brother played an instrument known as the “afro harp,” which is a xylophone.
He was well-known to residents and visitors for his interest in botanical medicine, offering advice over the Internet and in person to people with ailments to cure. Indeed, he was often called Bush Man.
“He had discovered Facebook, and his biggest passion was bush tea,” St. John resident Bonnie Corbeil said.
His friend Snoopy Touffaint called him a nice guy and a good teacher.
“I learned a lot from him,” Toussaint said.
In addition to operating The Kite, Hall rented catamarans from a van parked near the beach at Peter Bay. His sister said she has fond memories of sailing off to Jost Van Dyke with her brother at the helm.
“He loved to live the natural life, enjoying the beautiful ocean, air, and plants,” Hall said.
He also worked at the Domino gas station in Coral Bay until it closed.
Hall was born in New York to a St. John-born mother and a St. Thomas native father. When the family left New York, they moved first to St. Thomas and then to St. John.
He is survived by his mother, Ethlyn L. Hall; sisters Phyllis Hall-Brin and Elsa Hall; brother Sam H. Hall Jr.; daughter Yassin Hall-Young; nieces Tanya Wernicke-Muldrow and Janov Brin-Taylor; as well as several grandchildren.
His father, Samuel H. Hall Sr. is deceased.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
