Always in our memory
March 14, 1980 Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente died in a plane crash in Alaska. possibly the greatest communicator that our country has given. He was born on the same day, 52 years ago (1928), in Poza de la Sal, the small town of Bureba region (Burgos) where he spent his childhood and where he fell hopelessly in love with nature.
The fact that he died the same day he was born, coupled with various mysteries surrounding the circumstances of the accident and the the admiration that Iker Jiménez always felt for him, led him to dedicate two entire Fourth Millennium programs Five years ago.
Monument to Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente in Madrid
A special of three hours in total entitled Felix, the last hero with whom opened its eleventh season, and where next to friends, colleagues and relatives reviewed the life and work of Félix at the same time that he investigated the details of his fatal and premature outcome.
One of the guests who had the greatest weight in that special was his biographer, Benigno Varillas (Asturias, 1953), environmental journalist, naturalist and social promoter that he published in 2010, ahead of the 30th anniversary of his death, Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente: The message . An extensive and detailed 700 page biography whose second edition launches this saturday coinciding with the 40th anniversary of his death.
The text is the same as in the original book, except for the last two chapters. In them he addressed the evolution of environmental awareness after Félix's death, something that has changed a lot in the last decade. That is why he has preferred to update it and develop it all in a separate collection of small books available at his website.
At ten years old, Félix had to go to study at a boarding school in Vitoria. In 1946 he would begin his studies in medicine at the University of Valladolid. But it was not until 1962 that Franco's Spain fixed its eyes on him, when he left launching a female falcon on the cover of ABC under the headline “Greater Falconer of the Kingdom”.
He was a great animal lover
His television appearances as his guest would increase until in 1966 he had his own section in the space Televisión Escolar teaching zoology classes Felix, the friend of animals.
The children's audience would become the main target of it. Felix always knew that they were the future to change things, and the children appreciated that they spoke to them as openly as if they were adults.
His collaborations on television would continue while he began writing in Black and White, the ABC supplement. His budding fame allowed him to develop one of his great dreams: the study of wolves. He would do it in one of his favorite places on the Iberian Peninsula: the town of Pelegrina, near Sigüenza (Guadalajara).
However, the greatest success would be reported by his star series, The man and the earth . A total of 124 episodes spread over three seasons: the Venezuelan Series , shot in Venezuela; the Iberian Fauna Series , shot in Spain; and the American Series , shot between Canada Y Alaska.
It was precisely during the filming of this last season that he left us forever. While filming some aerial shots for the Iditarod chapters, the plane that piloted by Warren Dobson and transported Rodríguez de la Fuente himself along with the cameramen Teodoro Roa and Alberto Mariano Huéscar it crashed causing the death of its four crew. It was March 14, 1980.
One of the great milestones in the history of RTVE
Our generation sucked the posthumous message from him. Some of us weren't even born when he died, but his programs managed to survive him thanks to his imperishable quality and imbue the girl with values such as conservationism, love for nature and sustainability Long before we coined terms like "climate change".
Many were also his detractors. As Benigno Varillas explains in the introduction to his book, **some of Félix's activities:**
“They could seem contradictory. Thus, there are those who see little compatibility conservationist and falconer at the same time; protect wildlife and catch chicks from falcons and goshawks from nests; criticizing bulls as a show but sacrificing animals on filming; **being sensitive and tough at the same time. **
But reading and breaking down his work, the stages of his life and even those apparent discrepancies began to fit into each other. Without denying its excesses and defects -which, fortunately for him, was transgressive and human- His trajectory began to make sense.
The message is far from the only biography dedicated to Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. Joaquin Araujo wrote The Voice of Nature: biography of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (Salvat, 1990) and The friend of animals. Biography of Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente (SM editions, 1991).
Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente and King Emeritus Juan Carlos I
Miguel Pou dedicated Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente: the man and his work (Planeta, 1995), which he would reissue under the name of Felix, the friend of animals (Team Sirius, 2005) and would expand with The planetary consciousness of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (Ed. Wheel, 2008). Juan Manuel Ramos Accomplished published in 2001, with the Raíces publishing house, What a beautiful place to die. Unpublished chronicles on the life and death of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente.
In the 30th anniversary of his death also arrived The three heavens. Childhood Adventures of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (Miguel Ángel Cubeiro, Suso y Pinto. Auga editora, Caja de Burgos and Poza de la Sal City Council, 2010).
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary, RTVE pays tribute to him starting this Saturday with special programming. The 2 recovers The man and the earth remastered in high definition (from March 14, two episodes every Saturday at 12:45 p.m.).
Essential recovers Sunday 15 (9:30 p.m.) the human animal , a documentary that travels to the childhood memories of the spectators who stuck to the television to listen to it. Also, various programs and news from RTVE they will look at all the facets of the great popularizer. As a climax, the special 40 years without Felix RTVE.es brings together all its audiovisual production on its website.
Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente Viewpoint, Barranco del Río Dulce (Guadalajara)
There are innumerable statues, plaques, monuments, trophies, awards and tributes that he has received in these four decades of absence. But what stuck with us all was the song that, with lyrics by Gloria Fuertes, Enrique and Ana sang to him: “Friend Félix, when you get to heaven…”.