Buenos Aires mourns passing of Jorge Guinzburg

He was a journalist, screenwriter, humorist, television host and comic-strip author, among other skills. Jorge Guinzburg, 59, died in Buenos Aires this month.

Multitudes mourned his passing; parts of his funeral at the La Tablada Jewish cemetery were broadcast live. His offbeat take on world events during the 1980s, as democracy was returning to a nation recovering from years of "dirty war,'' was a welcome relief after the humorless reign of the generals.

Some called him an Argentine hybrid of Woody Allen and Danny DeVito.

A tinge of melancholy leavened his humor. Wrote Jorge Lanata in Critica: "If we're speaking of God, I would like to believe that Jorge Guinzburg, like many others, is now in some place with a look of surprise, in peace and without the sadness that every now and then escaped from his eyes.'' R.I.P. Jorge Guinzburg.

-- Andres D'Alessandro and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires.

Photo: Jorge Guinzburg in May 2005 file photo. (AP Photo/Telam.)