Remembering Maurizio Costanzo
Camilla Costanzo begins her long letter in which she remembers her father Maurizio, who passed away on February 24th, two weeks before his 85th birthday. A journalist and writer, she is one of the heirs of a professional who managed to make the small screen great. With these words entrusted to La Repubblica, the daughter retraces the path of memories with the public. “When we were little (Maurizio Costanzo, ed.), he always used to say: it doesn’t matter what you choose to do when you grow up, what’s important is that you love your job so much that you wake up happy and go to sleep happy. With dad we never went to the movies, to the park or for a walk and, if you wanted to see him, you had to go where he was. A television studio, his office, the theater”.
Mentor for Many
“Mentor for many, he changed destinies and helped those in difficulty – remembers the daughter, born from his first marriage to Flaminia Morandi – He never stopped being that shy, chubby boy who, from a very young age, dreamed of becoming a journalist, pretending to comment on the Tour of Italy using a soap dish as a microphone. He defeated the boredom of being an only child by entertaining himself alone”. In the 1978 photo, Camilla is between dad and mom Flaminia Morandi while her brother Saverio plays on a tricycle. “He was also a misanthrope, he didn’t like parties or dinners and if, when he was young, he was forced to do public relations, at one point he stopped completely. Finally he had an excuse: he was tired, the day had been tiring and he was no longer of age. The truth is that he only had fun working. The rest bored him”.
A New Course with Maria De Filippi
From that time – we are talking about the 1980s – he kept the same habits, even with his second wife Marta Flavi. Camilla attributes the change of course to Maria De Filippi, his third wife. “The only time we went on a trip with him, we went to the United States. It was August, it was hot and he, instead of being a tourist, locked himself in the hotel to watch television. He came back to Italy with a suitcase full of new ideas”. Among the fondest memories, the journalist mentions “a New Year’s Eve at his home. At the time of the midnight toast he had disappeared. He was in the bedroom sitting in an armchair laughing to himself while watching one of his favorite movies: Amici Miei”. And then there is the symbol so dear to him that he shared with his closest friends: “When he was a boy, his mother forced him to go to the gym. So he would leave the house, wet the towel under a fountain and then go to write at the bar. He was lazy in everything, except when it came to work. I think the identification with the turtle came from here. A slow, clumsy, but reflective and tenacious animal. He had so many and he gave one away to whoever came to visit him”.
