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Death of Bernard Pivot: an insatiable reader, lover of literature
Death of Bernard Pivot: an insatiable reader, lover of literature
(franceinfo)
Bernard Pivot died Monday May 6 at the age of 89. Long a host of literary programs that have become cult, the television man was passionate about books and the French language, but also football and gastronomy, among other passions.
The gluttony of words and the eye that sparkles when talking about his passion for books. Bernard Pivot, who died Monday May 6, hosted the program Apostrophes for fifteen years, in which he welcomed the best of literature, like Marguerite Duras after her Goncourt Prize, the philosopher Umberto Eco, and even Jacques Chirac , before he was elected president. During the 1970s, writers smoked on set, actors did their acts and the great people of the 20th century took turns at Bernard Pivot’s microphone.
Made famous by television
This lover of words liked to sometimes transform into a teacher, notably during La dictée de Pivot, the spelling and grammar meeting. He said he discovered this love of literature while reading the dictionary. Originally from Lyon (Rhône), son of a grocer, poor schoolboy, he became a journalist in 1957. But it was television that made him famous.
He was also fond of football, great wines and gastronomy. In 2004, he joined the jury of the Goncourt prize and the Drouant restaurant became his favorite restaurant. With his eternal mischief, Bernard Pivot will have given millions of viewers a taste for books, he will have made television a bookstore open to all and allgiving voice to great writers.
