JUAN ANTONIO CEBRIÁN

Juan Antonio Cebrián was a Spanish journalist, novelist and radio show host who left a mark on many people's lives , including mine. Unfortunately, he passed away seven months ago, but he left behind a great number of masterpieces. He devoted himself, body and mind, to his passion in life: history and culture in general, resulting in his fourteen books and three radio programs. Although I was not lucky enough to follow Juan Antonio Cebrián throughout his whole career, I am thankful for having found La Rosa de Los Vientos, a radio program directed by him, and where current affairs and mystery are discussed without censorship.

Cebrián was definitely a role model. Despite being blind, he never stopped enjoying life and learning about it. His passion and curiosity were such that listening to him on the radio in the middle of the night made you want to get up and start reading books. He was a culture vulture and his enthusiasm was contagious! He was a twenty-first century knight who defended the environment and talked about real heroes. In one of the sections of his program, Pasajes de la Historia, he narrated the lives of famous people, and he did it without reading any papers. He had everything in his mind. I recall the first time I listened to him on the radio; he was narrating Alejandro Magno's life, one of my favourite historical characters. Cebrián's voice took people to the past without any effort, making history much more interesting than when studied at school. He proved that the toughest theme can be interesting and fun, it only depends on how you deal with it.

La Rosa de los Vientos is still influencing many people due to the great work carried out by Cebrián 's co-workers: Jesús Callejo, Carlos Canales and Bruno Cardeñosa. Together they formed “the 4 Cs” team (because their surnames start with C). Every single one is unique, and when they join together they form a veritable fountain of wisdom: books, the Ancient Egypt, astronomy...there is nothing out of their reach.

Podéis disfrutar de este maravilloso programa y de la obra radiofónica de Cebrián en:


http://www.rosavientospodcast.com/podcast/temporada/actual