True death is not when breathing stops. We truly die when the memory of the person who leaves us goes out. And it is precisely death that reveals to us how profoundly widespread this memory will be. For those who do not aspire to the permanence granted by art in all its forms, for us, ‘normal’ people, continuity after physical death is inevitably marked, determined, by the very quality of our life, by the judgment we leave of ourselves, by how we acted and operated. Our memory will be more lasting if our existence has not been closed within the narrow domestic circle, but has opened up to others, has included the lives of others, has in some way modified its path… for the good.
This was Franco’s human and journalistic commitment. And the many, many messages of condolence that arrived, especially through social media, say everything about him. Truths incontrovertible because they are univocal.
And so, we did not want to pour out, in these reflections of ours in his memory, our great immutable affection towards him. And we know well what the risk of ‘beatification’ of ‘anyone’ is on these sad occasions. Franco was the first to recognize and complain about his human weaknesses, some of his ‘failures’ but here, we in the editorial team, first – since 2004 – of the newspaper Il Ponte, since 2009 of the Civetta, twenty years with Franco!, we want to give you the portrait of a man as it emerges from that avalanche of emotional thoughts expressed on social media by those who knew him.
“A serious and coherent man, a man of culture and sensitivity, with very high qualities of correctness and intellectual honesty. A gentleman from another era. A special person who loves life and justice, respectable and highly intelligent, always kind and polite, respectful of everyone, a loyal friend. A great gentleman, a beautiful person.
Journalist without masters, free from constraints and courageous, serious and prepared, fine intellectual and combative as he demonstrated, together with his collaborators, opposing the system of judicial corruption and malfeasance that had laid its hands on Syracuse just over ten years ago, as he was recognized by the Order of Journalists of Palermo who awarded him the national Mario Francese Award. His will to search for the truth is always firm.”
There were also several testimonies from those who took their first steps in journalism with him, many remembered “the extraordinary human and professional experience” lived with him, thanks to him, as he did not back down from any battle, despite being aware of the possible consequences, pursuing the objectives of that investigative journalism in which he strongly believed.
We wanted to report only two testimonies of the ‘Oddo method’ extrapolated from the long possible list: “As a young journalist – he wrote Massimiliano Perna – shared, with you director, the experience of Il Ponte and the first phases of La Civetta di Minerva. I published some of my first investigations on gangmastering and Cassibile on those pages. I had the opportunity to meet a good, serious, prepared director who was ready to give advice and trust me. He is an elegant and respectable person who believed in journalism. I will never forget your firm response to those who called you to ask you to keep me quiet and not publish my pieces and the truth they told. I remember you telling me: go ahead, keep going. Know that I am proud to have shared a piece of my professional journey with you”.
Gianmarco Catalano: “The sadness that envelops me is great and the memory of the moments spent arguing (and sometimes even heatedly and disagreeing) with him is strong, before and after the after-effects of a night he spent composing the newspaper. With that moral strength that never abandoned him and which was and will remain an indelible example. With him, thanks to him and the Civetta, I took my first steps in journalism and civic commitment. An experience that contributed decisively to my human, political and professional growth. With some “lessons” that I find among his emails”.
A lesson too long to be reproduced here but which we will publish, also because it is an example of the logical organicity of our director’s thought, which was expressed in that plain, flowing, perfect, enjoyable writing, which was the hallmark of his style. Franco was meticulous and severe in correcting those who ‘got wrong’ – a non-derogable principle is to write correctly, in syntax as in lexical choice -, an activity that kept us busy until the first light of dawn when the paper edition was being prepared , which was possible also and above all thanks to his generosity.
“His figure as a great journalist and man of integrity – recalls the Doctor Artale – he also deserved the honor of being named Honorary Partisan by our provincial section of the National Association of Italian Partisans”, an honor Franco joked about, recalling his early youth interests close to the right.
Franco lives with us, within all of us who have had the privilege of knowing him and of having been ‘trained’ by him and by ‘very authoritative hero of our community’ (as someone wrote) we hope that his name will remain forever and be remembered among those of the illustrious citizens of a city that he loved very much and for which ‘beauty’ (in every sense) he stubbornly fought for.
