Some commentators have likened Barga Vecchia to a kind of open air theatre with the residents of Barga all having a walk on part. One of the main actors in this play has very sadly walked off stage for the final time. Carlo Sacco who had an accident in his Ape last month has unfortunately not bounced back as many of his friends hoped and died in hospital yesterday. Sacco had his own page on barganews for over a decade. He was the face behind the virtual Scotsman He was also the official spokesgnome for the Gnome Liberation Front and his Ferrari Ape was probably the most photographed means of transport in the area. The main image to this article was taken by O’Connor just the day before his accident on the 28th July.
Carlo back in 2003 with his Fiat 500 | Carlo – Presepio builder with a difference | Carlo as the Befana | Carlo with his Ferrari Ape
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DethkymkGbo
Sacco working on his presepe in Aristos bar in Barga Vecchia – Dec 2008
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1NQdywA1pY
carlo sacco proudly shows off his presepe in the window of aristodemos bar in Barga Vecchia – Dec 2006
Rest in Peace, Sacco.
Addio Carlo. We’ll sorely miss your unfailing sense of humor — about yourself, about the comical ironies of daily life — and your kind words for everyone who crossed your path. In the endless theater of Barga, the role of Sacco was as solid and reassuring as the Duomo. Part of the stage will seem very empty for a long time to come without you. “E vero.”
One of the first people I was lucky enough to meet on arriving in Barga …
Instigated by the ever present Paolo Gas, I gate-crashed the annual blood donor’s bash up at the Ciocco in the guise of Sacco’s nephew from Rome – I even got to do a turn on stage with the magician at the after dinner party …
After that he was always affectionately known as my “zio”, and I as his “nipote”.
Ever the acrobat, in those days he would do his famous death defying somersaults in Casciani’s, and then insist on lying down so that the heaviest guy in the place could stand on his stomach (the joke being that he didn’t actually have one – it had been removed together with the tumour that had foolishly dared to take him on). Later he would have us all worried sick as he performed the most excruciating belly flops from the high board – not much of a swimmer, he often preferred simply to walk along the bottom of the pool until he reached the steps.
His life, from war orphan and refugee to the very end, was up hill and full of hardship; however his optimism and positive spirit became legendary as he turned his hand at any number of jobs – from cook to handyman, from repairing umbrellas and painting and decorating to factory work in France (“rien da faire” and “les jeux sont fait”, as he would proudly, if randomly, declare). Always on hand to help in any way he could, and never short of a bright idea whatever the problem to be solved, he was much sought after long after retirement.
So many memories flood back as I review the last twenty years of our friendship – too many to mention. All of them, however, contain his ever present wry grin, his sense of fun and games, his proud determination to never give in and never give up.
So, why not take a moment to crack open a can of beer: let us raise it high in honour of a little guy who will always be remembered as a giant of a man!
“Evvero, dice il Sacco”
R.I.P.
Since I was a kid every time something broke in the house or if there was something a little difficult to mend I remember my nonna saying…leave ir we’ll call Carlo Sacco. He could mend about everything. I have known hime since I was a kid and he’s often been around the house doing things. He never talked much but always had a smile for everybody even if he couldn’t always understand what we were saying because he was a bit deaf 🙂 I remember my parents telling me that he had his heart on the wrong side..the only thing I can say is that no matter where he had his heart he surely had a big one..he was always there to help everyone. My brother is in Scotland now and I’m not even sure he knows that Carlo is dead, but I’m sure that he will be very upset. We will all miss you Carlo. this is from all the “famiglia Marroni”
Elisabetta
buona persona davvero,contento di averti conosciuto.Riposa in pace