In Brazil, a parrot puppeteer’s death stirs the nation
In a time of so much loss, it is rare for an individual death to stir a country. And it is extraordinary for national grief to be triggered by the passing of a puppet.
But so it was in Brazil on Monday, as an outpouring of emotion followed news that the puppeteer behind Louro José – a 2-foot tall parrot that is a fixture on the country’s most popular morning show – had died.
Puppeteer Tom Veiga suffered a stroke caused by an aneurysm at his home in Rio de Janeiro, at age 47. For more than two decades, his green-and-yellow bird was comic relief on the program “Mais Voce,” somewhere between sidekick and co-host to Ana Maria Braga. The program was a welcome source of levity in a country accustomed to news of violence, inequality, plus political and economic turbulence.
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