FRANK SIMOES, AD GURU OF GOAN ORIGIN, DIES AT 68 IN MUMBAI PANJIM, Aug 26: It was one of those ironies of life that veteran ad man Frank Simoes' death was noted in Goa by just one small and fairly simple advert in the local newspapers.
But then, Simoes is one of a long line of Goan achievers who earned name and fame abroad but were hardly adequately noticed back home. The advert in Monday's papers announced the death of Simoes, the husband of Gita and father of Radhika. It noted he "passed away peacefully", on August 25, in Mumbai. Reports coming in from Mumbai later in the evening quoted his family as saying that he had died at a city hospital after a prolonged illness. "Simoes, 68, who was credited with creating the slogan 'Only Vimal' that launched Reliance Industries on the national stage, had been admitted to Jaslok Hospital last week. He had been suffering from cancer. He had a heart attack and died on Sunday afternoon," a news report from Mumbai said. He was cremated at the Chandanwadi crematorium late Sunday. Simoes is credited with having entered the advertising world after holding jobs elsewhere -- as typist, stenographer and in other capacities. He went on to set up his own shop, Frank Simoes Associates. Simoes lived through professional times when the Goan community -- perhaps due to its English-language skills -- had a larger than life-size presence in Bombay's advertising industry. His agency wound up when Simoes decided to retire a few years ago. Among Simoes' memorable campaigns being recalled were those for Reliance Industries, Taj and Raymonds. After retiring, Simoes took to writing. His book 'Glad Seasons in Goa' (Viking, 1994) was widely noticed by the national media. It was set in his home-state of Goa, which his writing indicates close links to despite his long innings as a migrant in Bombay, like tens of thousands of other Goans whose ancestors shifted to that city, even in colonial times. Using his skilled prose, Simoes describes "the story of his labours" to build his dream house Rockheart while he "simultaneously started to delve into his colourful Goan ancestry". 'Glad Seasons In Goa' eventually turned into "one Goan's discovery of his idyllic native land and its passionate, inquisitive, hospitable inhabitants," as the book describes itself. In its flowery yet seriously-written style, this book touches on issues like caste in Goa (it talks of 'Opulent Brahmin Citizens' or OBCs, and 'Saraswat Brahmin Roman Catholic Goans'), village life, his attempts to build a home in Goa, encounters with local politicians (including then-sarpanch of Candolim Tomazinho Cardozo), the perennial theme of Goa-in-the-rains, tourists in Goa, local feasts, and related themes. Feni and Goan food also get touched on. This book called itself more than just an entertaining travelogue, and more of an "unforgettable portrait of a people and an irrestible way of life". In 1990, Simoes published his second book, 'Fare Forward Voyager'. It was a biography to the late Goan mining baron, Vasudev Salgaocar. This book described the work by Simoes as "a Goan himself, and partisan to a degree, the book was a journey of discovery taking him (Simoes) back to his own roots". Simoes describes his life as an unusual one. At 17, he "de-camped from hearth and home" to work as a deck-hand on a Japanese freighter. A year later, he signed off in Genoa "with two pounds fifty pence and all his worldly belonging in a backpack". In Europe, he spent time as a kitchen boy, handyman, waiter, "reluctant porter" and "dedicated lay-about" at "dubious establishments" in Hamburg, Paris and Amsterdam. But 35 years later, he was elected to the Halls of Fame of the Creative Arts Guild and the Advertising Club. He looked back on his career with "two hundred articles, a biography and his own award-winning advertising agency behind him". In the mid-nineties, he was working on his third book, an advertising memoir called 'A Perfect Pair of Breasts'. He was quoted as having attributed "much of his success to a lack of formal education". (ENDS) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
