The Gaucho writer Luis Fernando Verissimo, 88, died in the early hours of this Saturday (30) after complications from a severe case of pneumonia. He had been hospitalized since August 11 in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Hospital Moinhos de Vento in Porto Alegre. The wake will be at the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul, starting at noon.
Verissimo leaves behind his wife, Lúcia Helena Massa, and three children: Pedro, Fernanda, and Mariana Verissimo. He had Parkinson’s disease, heart problems, and suffered a stroke (stroke) in 2021. A year later, he received a pacemaker in his heart.
Son of writer Érico Verissimo, Luis Fernando published more than 80 titles, including As Mentiras que os Homens Contam, O Popular: Crônicas ou Coisa Parecida, A Grande Mulher Nua, and Ed Mort e Outras Histórias.
It was the chronicles and short stories that made him one of the most popular contemporary writers in the country. Analista de Bagé, released in 1981, sold out its first edition in a week.
The writer built a rich professional career, working in different areas and producing in various formats. He worked as a cartoonist, translator, screenwriter, advertiser, proofreader, playwright, and novelist. His work is marked by good humor, assertiveness, and criticism. Beyond words, he was a music lover, dedicated to playing the saxophone.
In an interview on the Sem Censura program on TV Brasil, he recounted how he started “late” in his writing career, after beginning to work in the newsroom of the Zero Hora newspaper in the 1960s.
“Until I was 30, I had no idea about being a writer, much less a journalist. I did everything, and nothing worked out. Then, when I started working at a newspaper—and back then, you didn’t need a journalism degree—that’s when I discovered my vocation. I always read a lot, but I had never written anything. So, I’m a bit of an atypical case,” he said.
Known for being a quiet man, Verissimo used to say it wasn’t that he spoke little, “it’s that others speak too much.” In 2017, when he turned 80, he told the Conversa com Rosean Kennedy program on TV Brasil how he wanted to be remembered. “I’d like to be remembered for what I did, for my work, if I can call it that, but for my books. And, perhaps, for a saxophone solo, a well-executed blues saxophone solo,” he said.
In the same interview, he said he had a fantasy of being known and living solely from music, which was his passion. And he advised that life should not be taken so seriously.
“In the end, thinking about it, life is a big joke. All this happens to us, and we die… what a joke, right? What a bad taste joke. But I think we have to face it with a certain resignation, a certain bonhomie [kindness].”
Source: Agência Brasil