Alfredo Kato: intimate and revealing confessions of the icon of entertainment journalism in Peru

Don alfredo cato It was always clear to him that he would be a journalist, even the three times that -to please his father- he applied to the Faculty of Dentistry of the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, and did not enter. “Until now I wonder if I didn’t pass on purpose or I was so dumb that I didn’t know how to take an exam. I think it was the first”, he reflects.

“My father used to say that as a journalist I was going to starve to death, but the matteror is it that one ambitions to earn money but to do what he likes, and I wanted to study that career all my life. Thank God, all my life I did what I like”, Add.

Despite his father’s objections, . He studied at the School of Journalism of the Catholic University, where, he assures, he had journalist Sebastián Salazar Bondy and professor Jorge Puccinelli among his teachers.

“As a student at the journalism school, in 1961, I participated with some friends and a bunch of kids from different universities in a contest launched by Mr. Pedro Beltrán, founder of Última Hora and La Prensa. He was going to launch a new evening tabloid called El Diario to promote his presidential campaign and I was selected along with Alejandro Sakuda, Ricardo Müller, Eduardo Torrejón and other friends. But since the medium was not accepted, only 100 numbers were issued. When I lost my job, I knocked on a few doors, I went to La Crónica and Expreso, but they wanted me to work for free, and I wasn’t there for that“, Explain.

Tired of knocking on the wrong doors, Don Kato, passionate about the seventh art, decided to enter the Olimpo cinema in La Victoria to have a good time watching a comedy by one of his favorite directors. “I entered happily because I thought it was a comedy by Vittorio De Sica and it turned out to be by another Vittorio (Laughter). I was wrong”, remember between laughs. “But when I left the cinema I met Guillermo Thorndike, who had been one of those who directed the newspaper where he had started. He asked me what I was doing, I told him that he was looking for a job, so he offered me a job at La Prensa or at Última hora. I chose the first“, remember.

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For a year, Mr. alfredo cato He worked at La Prensa as a shift editor, covering the news that was not assigned in the commission table, then he went to the entertainment section, where he took the place of the writer, journalist and filmmaker Armando Robles Godoy, who left the newspaper to dedicate himself fully to the cinema.

“When I completed a year at the newspaper, I asked for vacations to travel to Mexico with my classmates from the university, I visited theaters, film studios, I met many people, I interviewed the Mexican artist Julio Aleman, also Sergio Bustamante, who at that time was partner of the Peruvian beauty queen, Ofelia Grabowski. I sent La Prensa about ten notes with photos, and when I got back, they asked me if I would like to do shows. I happily accepted life, it was what I wanted most. It was a gift from God”, he assures.

In addition to the entertainment pages, the prominent press man was in charge of the cultural pages, and the television criticism column called “Who TV” of the “7 Days” supplement.

In 1984, after 22 years of uninterrupted work, Mr. Alfredo Kato resigned from La Prensa to join the ranks of El Comercio, which at that time was making the leap to modernity with a new offset press and a computerized system. In the dean of the Peruvian press he published “El mirador”, his famous and influential column for which he received great respect and affection, but also some scathing criticism.

─ “El Mirador” had a great impact, it was one of the most read columns in the newspaper…

Lots of people read it. One day, Dr. Alejandro Miró Quesada told me: “Do you know what is the first thing my wife reads while we have breakfast? Her column, she reads it aloud to me.” I was so glad you told me that.

─At that time, entertainment journalism was also frowned upon?

It was completely different, very different from what it is now.

─What is your view of entertainment journalism today?

What we now see on television is not correct journalism, it is good that gossip programs exist, but they should be more worked on, as is the case with American programs, in a way that is not rude or vulgar.

─How can you do entertainment journalism and keep your friends?

I always thought my sticks weren’t that strong, but the artists said they were. Felipe Sanguinetti, a comedian from “Estrafalario”, threatened to hit me when we met at a Radio Programas party at the Crillón hotel. Since he was drunk, I told him to find me when he was sober, and I left. He was the only artist who reacted like this, the others did understand that my task was to make them see that they were wrong or wrong, that’s why I was able to make many friends, like Julio Iglesias and Rocío Dúrcal.

─How was your friendship with Julio Iglesias born?

It was in 1971, in a hotel in Buenos Aires, during the world premiere of “Ryan’s Daughter”, a film by British director David Lean. In that place, the representative of Julio Iglesias introduced us. Julio was very kind to me, he told me that he knew a Peruvian song, then he took out his guitar to sing “La flor de la canela”. You won’t believe what happened next: the bellman asked him to shut up because he was disturbing the peace of the other guests.

─Is it true that Luis Miguel is the most conceited foreign artist?

Something like that. Once Jorge Henderson and I were invited to a concert in Las Vegas for the anniversary of Mexico, in that celebration, Luis Miguel received trophies from different countries from his label, and upon receiving a very nice one from Taiwan, he said: “I would not buy a disc in Chinese”. Since I was the only Oriental, I stood up and asked him: “How do you explain that Taiwanese who don’t speak Spanish have bought the records that have allowed you to obtain this trophy?” Then I sat down.

─ What did you reply?

He said he was joking, but when he came to Peru, we met at the Sheraton Hotel and I reminded him of what happened that day. He gave me the reason.

─How was it writing the farewell edition of “El Mirador”?

It was difficult, I remember that I thanked the people of the newspaper and the readers because they made it a widely read column. I had to leave it because I reached the age of 65 and in El Comercio they were very strict with retirement, so I couldn’t continue.

─ Do you think you went overboard with some criticism?

Once I overdid it, I responded strongly to Augusto Ferrando in my column because I didn’t like that he called me a “scoundrel” on his show. In El Comercio they told me that he had written it with his liver and not with his head. When I read it again I realized that, indeed, I had gone overboard.

controversial program

─What do you remember about the Crossfire in which you participated as a panelist, in which Augusto Ferrando was supposedly paid tribute and ended up beheading him live?

Frankly, I don’t think I said anything rude about him, but some buddies did go overboard. When they invited me to that program, they told me it was a tribute and it turned out to be a kind of ambush, everyone hit it hard.

─Was he still at odds with Ferrando at that time?

The funny thing is that we became friends one day when we coincided on Gisela Valcárcel’s program. Manolo Salerno was also there, the journalist who attacked him the most. I remember that Augusto told him that he didn’t respect him, that the only one he respected was me.

─Magaly Medina, one of Ferrando’s most scathing critics in that Fuego Cruzado, now has a show program on TV. What do you think about this one?

I don’t like it at all, nor do I watch it, just as I don’t watch the other programs of the same cut. When Magaly wrote in the magazine “Si”, she was very good, but later she completely degenerated. He criticized Augusto for his work and what he is doing now is the same or worse.

─Who is the greatest artist you have interviewed?

I interviewed many, but I remember one especially. I managed to interview Mick Jagger from The Rolling Stones when he came to Peru, but you can’t imagine how. When I got to the hotel room where he was staying, Keith Richards, the band’s guitarist, ushered me in until where was Mick Jagger with a woman in bed. This is how he gave me the interview.

─ Do you have images of that interview?

They didn’t let me in with a photographer (laughs).

─ What is the greatest satisfaction that journalism has given you?

Many, but above all the possibility of helping. Thanks to my work as a correspondent in a Japanese media, I was able to help Juan Makino Tori, ‘The samurai of the huayno’, find his brothers who had been sent to Japan before the war and did not know anything about them.

─Don Alfredo, do you miss newsrooms?

Sometimes I miss them, but since I write on Facebook and in Peru Shimpo, the newspaper of the Peruvian-Japanese community, it’s not that hard.

─ What is the most valuable thing that life has given you?

A beautiful family and having met so many people and continuing to enjoy their friendship, their affection. Whenever I get together with my colleagues, we have a good time.

─Have you thought about capturing your experiences in a book?

I’m writing one, I hope to finish it soon. My kids are the most excited about that topic.

─How would you like to be remembered the day you are no longer in this world?

Silvia Miró Quesada says that she likes my smile and my sense of humor because they have rarely seen me angry (She laughs out loud). I would like to be remembered that way: happy and smiling.