Aldir Blanc Mendes a Brazilian author of crônicas and lyricist died of complications of COVID-19 on 4 May 2020 at the age of 73.
He co-composed many songs with singer-songwriter João Bosco, guitarist Guinga, and others. A trained psychiatrist, eventually he quit medical practice and devoted all his time to music.
Elis Regina recorded several of his songs, most notably “O bêbado e a equilibrista”. Another song of his is “Resposta ao tempo” (with lyrics by Cristovão Bastos), a ballad that became one of Nana Caymmi’s most famous songs, and which was recorded by many other musicians thereafter, amongst them Milton Nascimento and Aldir Blanc himself.
Blanc’s work 1972–1987 was analyzed by Charles A. Perrone in Masters of Contemporary Brazilian Song MPB 1965–1985 (U Texas P, 1989).