What is the long-awaited book about Puma José Luis Carranza about?

We all know it’s the Puma, but he walks this alley like a lion in the savannah. The alley connects the back door of the old Lolo Fernández stadium with the ground floor of the only stand that remains standing, the planks borrowed from the West, and here, although the workers tell stories of ghosts or the wood creaks as if someone walked from midnight , the Puma does not flinch. It is a morning in December 2004, two days after the retirement of the most applauded footballer from Universitario de Deportes since Héctor Chumpitaz retired. The Puma is the Puma José Luis Carranza and although we don’t know each other, the landline in his apartment in San Isidro has answered me with a brief: “Go to Lolo on Tuesday, compare, and there we talk all you want”. Although I do not have statistical proof, I suspect that it is the same kind way in which Carranza has opened the door of his house to dozens, hundreds of young reporters when they have wanted to interview him. photograph it. Know him.

And this has been the case of the journalist Sharles Hernández, who this Friday presents in Trujillo a long-awaited book about the champion captain of the ‘U’ of the 90s, which is called, how could it be otherwise, “El Puma, el last cream caudillo”.

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Sharles Hernández is a journalist in the Multi-Brand Zone of El Comercio. He was born in Chimbote and has spent his thirties between sports newsrooms and the stands of the local tournament stadiums. It is not even necessary to say it -I think- but he is a fan of the ‘U’, not one who goes around with a little sign saying that he is, but someone who has opted for the most intelligent path: report his memory, write it down and let that remain.

“Why the Cougar?” Of which so much is known and so little, too.

Because the Puma for me is an idol. I remember that as a boy I grew up seeing him with the Universitario shirt, giving everything for the club with his claw or his classic wheelbarrow. He is a player who marked me. I always had the desire to write a book on the U, I saw that a lot had been written about Lolo and in a conversation with friends I commented on the idea. There, analyzing, that desire arose to make a book that shows a little more of José Luis Carranza, that remembers his career but also highlights the human side, that allows the fan to meet the friend, the guy who was in the bad times, that loyal person, that boy who came from below and became the player with the most titles in the merengue team.

—You are a digital native and you work in an online newsroom. Why write a paper book, at a time when hardly anyone reads anymore?

Because that was always a dream that I had to fulfill, I wanted to leave my name in a book and more so if it is a sport to which I have dedicated a large part of my life. It is an adventure in which I decided to enter driven by a group of friends and so far has given me joy.

—Who are your referents to write? Who do you read?

As a child I liked Juan Rulfo with “Pedro Páramo”, when I arrived at the university classrooms at the National University of Trujillo, one felt proud because our greatest reference is César Vallejo. Soccer led me to read Juan Villoro, University student to appreciate the editions of “Crema Mi Gran Amigo”. Also, one of the authors I admire the most is the Italian Federico Moccia and his love stories. I have tried to read a bit of everything and thus make my own style.

How was the reporting and writing process?

The truth is that being in a journalistic environment opened many doors for me, it helped me to talk with many people linked to Puma Carranza, from a noble guy like Luis Guadalupe, other great former players like Gustavo Grondona, Roberto Martínez, Balán Gonzáles or Germán Leguía or a former leader like Jorge Nicolini. In addition, I visited the Newspaper Library of the National Library of Peru and there I looked for information about the ex-flyer’s career. And of course there was also the possibility of going to the newspaper archive. That’s how I discovered that seeing the newspapers from previous years is something that fascinates me and that I would perhaps spend hours upon hours there. Finally, I was able to converse with the main protagonist of the story. After that I started writing the book.

—What other stories of Peruvian soccer do you find interesting to tell?

One of the stories of Peruvian soccer that I find interesting to tell is that of the 1972 University runner-up. In fact, I have been able to investigate a little about it by visiting the Newspaper Library of the National Library of Peru and interviewing some soccer players who were part of that campaign. In addition, the 1934 University degree and all the controversy that has been generated around it catches my attention. I think that in our football there is a lot to tell. Perhaps taking advantage of the space that one has in a medium or perhaps in a book.

The Puma, the last cream caudillo

Editorial: InfoREAD, 2021

Price: S/ 25.

Presentation: This Friday the 12th in Trujillo at the Casa de la Identidad Regional (7 pm), in Lima on May 25 and finally in Arequipa on the 27th of this month.

Presenters: Carlos Balarezo, Omar Aliaga and Jorge Tume.

Inquiries: 933153691 and @infolectura_trujillo on IG.