Luís Fernando Veríssimo

Luís Fernando Verissimo
Luís Fernando Veríssimo in 2003
Born	(1936-09-26) September 26, 1936 (age 80) Porto Alegre, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Genre	Humor
Signature

Luís Fernando Veríssimo (born September 26, 1936 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) is a Brazilian writer. Verissimo is the son of Brazilian writer Erico Verissimo and lived with his father in the United States during his childhood. Best known for his crônicas and texts of humor, more precisely satire of manners, published daily in several Brazilian newspapers, Verissimo is also a cartoonist, translator, and television writer, playwright and novelist. He has also been advertising and newspaper copy desk. He is also a musician, having played saxophone in a few sets. With over 60 published titles, is one of the most popular contemporary Brazilian writers.

Verissimo is a great fan of jazz, and plays saxophone in a band called Jazz 6. Like many Brazilian intellectuals, he enjoys the culture of Rio de Janeiro. Verissimo is a critic of right-wing politicians, especially the former president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Verissimo is fond of football, and a famous Sport Club Internacional supporter. He has already written many texts about his passion for football.

Verissimo was married to Lúcia Helena Massa in 1964, and the couple has three children: Fernanda, a journalist, Mariana, a writer, and Pedro, a musician. He lives with his wife in Porto Alegre.

Born and raised in Porto Alegre, Luis Fernando lived most of his childhood and adolescence in the United States with his family, due to professional commitments undertaken by his father – a professor at UC Berkeley (1943–1945) and cultural director at the Organization of American States in Washington (1953–1956). As a result, he attended primary part of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and completed high school at Roosevelt High School in Washington.

When he was 14 he produced with his sister, Clarissa, and a cousin, a local periodical with news of family, which was hung in the bathroom of the house and was called "The Patentino" ("patente" is the way toilet are known in Rio Grande do Sul).

When he lived in Washington, Verissimo developed his passion for jazz, and started studying saxophone and took frequent trips to New York, attending performances of the greatest musicians of the era, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.