Farewell to Gladstone Viera Belo: former teammates and friends mourn journalist’s death

The death of journalist Gladstone Vieira Belo, aged 77, generated great repercussions among friends, former work colleagues at the Pernambuco Diary and authorities.

Former vice-president of the newspaper, Gladstone died on Wednesday (27), after falling in the apartment where he lived and spending 12 days in the Hospital Português, in Recife.

The farewell ceremony will be at the Morada da Paz Cemetery, in Paulista, Greater Recife, at a time that has yet to be announced.

Superior Court of Justice minister Ogg Marques Fernandes, who was a reporter for Diario, spoke about Gladstone’s death.

In a text sent to the newspaper, this Thursday (28), he cited the journalist’s dedication to leading Diario de Pernambuco.

“I am deeply saddened by Gladstone’s passing. He was my general editor for a long time, in the 1970s. He and the Pernambuco Diary were confused in a single image, such was the degree of commitment of the great journalist to the newspaper. Cultured, poet, with a mild temperament towards everyone in the editorial office, he had a brilliant career at Diários Associados. He wrote articles with just the two index fingers on old typewriters with elegant text. Oh my! How I would like to hear the conversation between him, Antônio Camelo, Joezil Barros and Selênio Homem de Siqueira today, in the heaven of great journalists”, recalled the Minister.

Minister OGG Marques Fernandes worked at the newspaper (Photo: Archive)

Journalist and friend João Alberto Martins Sobral, who worked at Diario de Pernambuco for almost 50 years, sent a text to the newsroom talking about his friend and his years at the newspaper.

In the text “goodbye to a dear friend”, João Alberto said that Thursday of Holy Week started “very sad”.

“I learned of the death of Gladstone Vieira Belo, a 50-year-old friend, who left us after suffering a fall in his apartment in Aflitos,” he stated.

The social columnist recalled the beginning of his career at Diario and told stories he went through with his friend.

“We started together as reporters on Antônio Camelo’s team. I remember an event in which, after a report with Dom Helder, we invented that he would be fired and would be called to superintendent Nereu Bastos’ office. He spent the whole day worried, without knowing who made it a joke among his colleagues. He had a brilliant career at the newspaper, becoming editor-in-chief. Afterwards, he was elected member of the Condomínio dos Diarios Associados and appointed president of the newspaper. A position he decided to pass on to Joezil Barros, when he joined the Condominium . During all these years we were together, practically every day. I remember his room in the old headquarters on Rua do Veiga, full of old newspapers, where, still using a typing machine, he wrote editorials for the newspaper. I liked talking to him, always learning, a great journalist and who mastered the Portuguese language, like few others. He had a poetic side, in Geração 65, a career that he preferred not to continue”, he wrote.

Joo Alberto was a columnist for Diario (Photo: Archive)

João Alberto also spoke about interesting passages that marked Gladstone’s career.

“I had habits that I wouldn’t give up. Like going shopping every Saturday, with Ana Lúcia, my companion for so many years, at Mercado de São José and then having lunch at Spettus, Costa Brava or Filipe. And going to Europe practically every year , always with Paris and Lisbon on his itinerary, cities he loved. After the pandemic, he was practically a recluse, I didn’t even have the pleasure of meeting him in restaurants. He’s certainly together with Joezil Barros, with whom he shared command of the Pernambuco Diary. Missing him greatly from his legion of friends”, wrote friend João Alberto.

The journalist and current Director of Journalism of the group Pernambuco DiaryPaula Losada, also wrote about living with Gladstone for more than 30 years.

“I deeply regret the passing of Gladstone, with whom I lived for more than 30 years. Extremely discreet and reserved, he played an important role in supporting and disseminating culture in Pernambuco, particularly literature, always opening up space in the newspaper for young poets and writers. He was an intellectual who always avoided the spotlight and never abandoned his typewriter. It’s a great loss”, lamented Paula Losada.

A friend for more than 40 years, journalist Marcus Prado also spoke about Gladstone’s feeling of loss.

Grieving a friend like Gladstone is a painful experience,” he wrote.

Praso also said that “it is difficult to find words, in this time of great sadness, to bear witness to a friendship of more than 40 years. His departure will leave a void in my life, at the Journalism school that was the Daily. He was an excellent professional, competent and of exemplary simplicity, without ceasing to be creative in the job he embraced. Poet, reader of the great classics of our language. He left an unpublished book, a collection of poems, about which he gave me news and the invitation, which he made to me, to be its preface. I lost a great friend, I miss him and remember everything we shared,” he added.