The death of a great friend like Emilio Jimenez Diaz It cannot be explored from a philosophical perspective. It must be confronted with the intense emotion of an irreparable loss, even though it lives forever in our hearts.
He's his friend, José Luis Jiménezwho, from across the pond, informed me of the tragic outcome. I made the return trip from Badajoz to Seville and, to be honest, I was completely absorbed by the entire journey, because it wasn't just the intimacy that united us, sharing and feeling the happy moments, but also the understanding and emotional support.
The impact has been so profound that only two words haunt me throughout this journey: a thousand thanks. That's what makes the difference between the golden boy from Triana who has just left us and other mortals who undoubtedly had their own losses, but whom we bid farewell to in a different way.
Emilio is being dismissed from earthly life in the Camas Funeral HomeHe will be cremated tomorrow, Sunday, and it is planned that his ashes will be scattered in the Guadalquivir River. He died yesterday at approximately 10:00 p.m. in the Reina Sofía HospitalFrom Córdoba, where he was hospitalized for a week, until he developed lung problems, as well as problems with the valve in his heart, making it possible A multiple organ failure has forced him to leave the city where he lived at the age of 76..
I was born in The Corral de Los Salgueros, in the Triana district (Seville), on July 18, 1949This explains why he carried his neighborhood tattooed on his soul, as evidenced in his articles, lectures, poetry, and books. He specialized in flamenco and played an extraordinary role in popularizing it, so much so that he has been one of the most important figures in the field. flamenco contemporary.
It is difficult, then, to write a text of mourning not just about someone who won countless awards throughout his career, but, as I wrote some years ago, about someone who, during his life, earned a virtue built on categories such as...The pride of being from Triana, the loyalty to its customs, the adoration of its people, and the personal sacrifice for a neighborhoodwhose legacy is still too early to fully appreciate.
If peoples are built from their traditions, insofar as we are able to assume them as such and promote their study and dissemination in subsequent generations, ordinary people instinctively defend them through their habits, but intellectuals do so through their works, hence admiration is the title that reconciles art with Emilio's contribution to Andalusian culture.
As a poet, writer, and journalist, his work aims precisely at this: to recognize in Andalusian identity the very essence of being from Triana, of belonging to and inhabiting a territory, and, ultimately, of the effort to make his culture available to others so that it endures. To repay him now for his immense contribution in recording what this has meant is an act of justice.
I worked with him at the magazine Seville Flamencaas well as in the early eighties of the last century when it was being established from Andalusia Post Office journalism flamenco Today I would say that it is non-existent, so I can define him as a whitener of consciences, a consistent journalist, a perfectionist in his work, full of common sense, love for what is well done and only dedicated to the truth of the senses of art.
"I worked with him at Sevilla magazine Flamenco, as well as in the early eighties of the last century when a journalism was being established from El Correo de Andalucía flamenco Today I would say that he is nonexistent, so I can define him as a whitener of consciences, a consistent journalist, a perfectionist in his work, full of common sense, a love for what is well done and only dedicated to the truth of the senses of art."
But going into his biography, I must point out that Emilio, before disseminating the flamenco, premiered the plays in Seville Looking in the attic (1972) and Under the tent's sky (1973). Later he began his journalistic work at the evening newspaper Nueva Andalucía (1976-1979), continuing it in the aforementioned Andalusia Post Office (1982-1984).
He himself created and even directed, throughout its first 100 issues, the magazine Seville Flamenco (1980), which would receive the National Chair Award FlamencoJerez logia (1983)He was also the director and presenter of the daily program Being from the south, on the COPE radio network in Seville (1981-1984), later taking over the direction of the program Heard at cante, on Radio Nacional de España (1984).
Among his books, off the top of my head, I note Seville and its trams (1979) Markets and street markets (1981) From my friend and teacher Manuel Cano (1990) Andalusia, glory and rhythm (1992) Tribute to Art Flamenco (1992) Triana on the lips of the copla (1992) History of sevillanas (1992) Very illustrious figures from popular Triana (1994) Very illustrious women of popular Triana (1995) Eroticism and humor in flamenco songs (1997) Between drinks and songs (1998) and Córdoba carried aloft (2000).
It was also awarded the Chair prize of FlamencoLogia and Andalusian Folkloric Studies of Jerez de la Frontera and full member of the same (1979), Ricardo Molina Journalism Prize at the 10th National Art Competition Flamenco From Cordoba (1983) and Manuel Torre Journalism Prize of the Andalusian Regional Government (1983).
In this regard, the newspaper Andalusia Post Office He was chosen as one of "The One Hundred Most Outstanding Andalusians," and I mustn't forget that he is included in several poetry anthologies or that he participated in numerous books on Art Flamenco, in addition to being the creator and perpetual secretary of the Compass Distinction of Cante until the aforementioned award passed away for reasons that we already explained at the time and which, out of respect for Emilio, are not relevant now.
But this unspoiled Triana native, whose identity he always considered a true priority, suffered the worst blow on January 30, 2012. An illness robbed him of his zest for life. Loli, his partner, who lives on in the memory of those of us who knew her because being so extraordinary was the essence of her soul, just as Emilio dedicated his entire life to the defense of flamenco To give to others without asking for anything in return, hence, at this keyboard, grieving the loss of such a dear friend, the undersigned can only lift the veil of mourning, even for a moment, to offer my palmas in time and repeat as many times as necessary: thank you very much.
Many thanks to Emilio Jiménez Díaz because I cannot be objective about someone whose success never made him a worse person. I cannot be objective when I pay tribute in these lines to a great writer, a great poet, a great journalist, and a great Sevillian, but above all to someone who possesses a quality that many will never attain, and they know it: a great fighter for Triana, for the flamenco and for Andalusian culture.
Thank you so much, then, my dear friend, because Men like Emilio Jiménez Díaz are never in fashion.
My dear Emilio, I received the sad news of your passing just a few hours ago. So many memories flood my mind of those conversations we had about our magazine. That window of the guitar maker's shop served as an excuse for our phone calls. I still fondly remember that wonderful speech you wrote for the first Ibero-American tribute to the guitar in Casasimarro, which served as the prologue to my book, "The Guitar Makers of Casasimarro Make the Wood Sing." Thank you for your friendship and your love for Casasimarro.