“I am a sensitive and persevering guy with a passion for the word, writing and reading,” he says. paul rossi during his chat with NEWS. He likes to talk, is precise with details and has no qualms about reciting from memory a poem he wrote in his teens. So he was fascinated by poetry and dreamed of being a writer. Over time he ended up trapped by journalism and political analysis.
Anxious, hyperkinetic, multitasking and with a high level of self-demand, this year he premiered a program in prime time on Radio Rivadavia —This morning from M to F from 6 to 9—, a dream that he hoped to achieve and that is added to his other challenges on television —Hour 17 and Hour 21 by LN+—.
He also has three published books and a passion for cooking and gardening. His biggest company is the family he formed with his partner Silvina Zabala and her children Lucía (22), Ignacio (18), Santino (13) and Benicio (9). His place in the world is a magical house facing the river, in the mountains of Córdoba.
News: Your strengths and weaknesses?
Rossy: My strengths are in certain convictions and perseverance. And the weaknesses cyclothymia and an obsessive perfectionism.
News: What or who do you turn to in difficult times?
Rossy: To my life partner, my wife. I have few good friends, but in difficult times we learned to be back to back.
News: Do you do any kind of therapy?
Rossy: I did very little psychoanalysis, and when I had anxiety attacks and panic attacks, I did cognitive behavioral therapy and kundalini yoga, both of which helped tremendously. It was in 2009, at a time of professional identity crisis.
News: You had a difficult childhood. His parents separated when he was three years old, he grew up with his mother, they suffered financial hardship. How did all that mark it?
Rossi: It loaded me with super fuel, but it also marked me because I saw my mother suffer economic hardship and be mistreated by society. He taught me the value of freedom and a duty to be very important. Everything around me told me: “You have the capacity, you can get there, you can give more than this”. I was ready to jump any obstacle. I read a lot, a lot of poetry, Alfonsina Storni caught me, and I also wrote, I have four notebooks with my poetry. I had a bookseller grandfather —Adolfo Rossi— who left a deep mark on me. He instilled in me a love of books and reading from the age of five. Books were like an enchanted forest for me. He dreamed of being a writer and telling stories.
News: And his father?
Rossy: I saw him very little, sometimes once a year, but I don’t judge him. I was able to build a more or less genuine relationship with him when I was 28 years old and I came to live in Buenos Aires.
News: Why did you choose journalism?
Rossy: I wanted to study Political Science, but it could only be studied at the Catholic University and I couldn’t pay for it. So, I decided on Diplomacy, but first I had to have a degree and I got into Law. I studied for two and a half years with an average of nine and a bit, and when I entered the codified subjects something clicked for me. I realized that what I liked was communication and I switched to Information Sciences at the National University of Córdoba. He had the bohemian idea of the writer-journalist.
News: This year it debuted in Rivadavia’s prime time. What is it like doing radio in that segment?
Rossy: I felt that the first morning was the place where I had to arrive. It is my ecosystem, the first hour, where you give the news, you wake people up, you accompany them. I prepared myself all my professional life to get to this point, to put myself to the test on the first morning of a very competitive radio station. It is discipline, understanding who is on the other side at that time, how you have to talk to them and how you accompany them. I have formatted myself as a radio listener and as a journalist with Marcelo Longobardi. Today I feel ready to do it and it is a delight.
News: And how did you adapt your routine?
Rossy: I had to organize myself. I get up at 4 in the morning, at 4:15 I’m already in the shower, I change, I prepare a coffee and an energy shake and at 4:35 maximum I have to go out. I get to radio 5.10 and do a quick and selective reading of the newspapers and put together the summary.
News: And, in addition, there are your programs on television.
Rossy: Yes, it is a very strong immersion, in a channel like LN+ with a new, disruptive project, a very high profile. It is a formidable experience and now living with the radio requires a double discipline. These are two important challenges.
News: He also has his facet as a cook.
Rossy: Yes, I owe it to my grandmother. The kitchen fascinates me, it is a form of delivery, I love entertaining the people I love. By kneading and working in the garden one connects energetically with the earth and with doing in a formidable way. I make bread, pizzas, I have a clay oven.
News: In fact, with his wife they were pizza makers.
Rossy: Yes, in Córdoba, we were 22 years old. I was studying journalism and she worked at Tarjeta Naranja as a systems analyst and at night we ran the pizzeria. We got to have two locations. She was happy, she had a white apron and she talked to everyone.
News: Why is Silvina your great life partner?
Rossy: Because we have been together since we were 18 years old and since then we have shared simple, essential and profound things. In addition, Silvina is a tractor, she is the engine, the support, the one that always goes forward.
News: Would you like to live in Córdoba again?
Rossi: Yes, we dream of returning to our place in the world, our home in the mountains. We saw her for the first time when she was 18 years old and I told Silvina that one day she was going to buy that house to write my novels. At ten years old I was able to buy it. We rented it when we came to Buenos Aires, the tenants usurped it and we got it back with a two-year trial. Later we added one more piece of land and made two cabins to rent. It is a magical place, facing the river.
News: Are you happy with the life you built and the person you are?
Rossi: Yes, my biggest company is my family and my only valid identity card is who I am. My integrity is my heritage.
