in 2008. The couple had three children, Nana, Dori, and Danilo, all of whom followed their father into musical careers. Politics Although Caymmi rarely incorporated political messages into his music, he often spoke bitterly about the government's corruption. Jorge Amado, his close friend, was sent into exile for several years after he publicly criticized the country's rulers during the period of military dictatorship. In 1994, Caymmi said, "I have concluded that to act as a citizen in Brazil today is to live a joke. It's the same as playing the lotto, dreaming about nonsense, trying to get rich when you are 80." Death Dorival Caymmi died at age 94 of kidney cancer and multiple organ failure on August 16, 2008, at his home in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. His granddaughter, Stella, who wrote a biography about him in 2001, said, "He did not know that he had cancer, and he did not want to know. He did not ask much about this. He was first hospitalized in 1999. My grandfather went through with treatment, but he did not want to know anything about the illness. He acted with serenity every day, and because of that, we respected this wish." Reception and legacy Brazilian singer and composer Carlos Lyra praised Caymmi's style for its "suave and romantic colloquialism". In a 1994 anthology of Caymmi's work, Antônio Carlos Jobim wrote in the introduction, "Dorival is a universal genius. He picked up the guitar and orchestrated the world." In 2001, New York Times journalist Ben Ratliff wrote that Caymmi was "perhaps second only to Antônio Carlos Jobim in 'establishing a songbook of this century's Brazilian identity.'" On the day of Caymmi's death in 2008, Brazilian composer and musician Tom Zé said, "It's difficult to comprehend just how valuable a CD of Caymmi's beach songs from the 1940s is." Also around the time of Caymmi's death, President of Brazil Luis Inácio Lula da Silva called him "one of the founders of Brazilian popular music". Several of Caymmi's contemporaries, including Gal Costa and Olivia Hime, have recorded tributes to him. Discography Albums Prior to 1988, all of Caymmi's albums were released as LP records. His last four albums were released as CDs. Singles All of Caymmi's singles were released as 78 rpm gramophone records. Tributes References External links Caymmi's obituary in The New York Times 1914 births 2008 deaths Bossa nova singers Brazilian people of