"Master to whom? To me? Go sweep the sea. I seem to hear him, Mario. The rough, the generous, the great Mario Fossati" (December 3, 2013).

"Ten years already. But are you still here exalting a drug addict? Or: haven't you yet understood that he was the sacrificial lamb? Ten years after his death, Marco Pantani continues to divide, just as ten days after" (February 11, 2014).

"That scudetto, beautiful and unrepeatable, a single phrase from Fanna would be enough to explain it: 'With Bagnoli we felt like birds out of a cage'" (May 11, 2015).

Gianni Mura in "la Repubblica". Gianni Mura on Mario Fossati (and journalism), Marco Pantani (and cycling), Verona (and football). Gianni Mura the Professor. Gianni Mura and the Library that bears his name and surname at via Confalonieri 3, in the Isola district, in Milan. Books, his books, those about sports, but also meetings, presentations, readings and, from now on, the first sports book club in Milan for young women and men.

Each month a title will be proposed, then discussed by the reading group in the Library, sharing opinions and deepening the themes of the work. The "restitution" of the book, in the voices of the young women and men, will become a radio broadcast that Radio Popolare will air within "Stay Human", on Saturdays from 5:35 PM to 6:30 PM. The meeting, open to all those who have accepted the invitation to read the month's book, will be coordinated by writer Giacomo Bolzoni, with a protagonist from the sport discussed in the volume.

The book club starts from the classrooms of Milan's high schools and is aimed primarily at young people under 35, as part of the Giovani Smart call from the Lombardy Region. The first institution involved is the Carlo Tenca scientific high school, other interested high schools can apply by writing to the Gianni Mura Sports Library address (bibliotecasportmura@gmail.com). The first appointment is Wednesday, December 9 at 4:30 PM when the book club will discuss tennis with "The Grammar of White. A Summer at Wimbledon" by Angelo Carotenuto, published by Sellerio, which supported the project by donating copies of the volume. The setting of the novel is the 1980 Wimbledon tournament final between Björn Borg and John McEnroe.

The subsequent book club appointments, with the kind donation of books from Libraccio, will address women's football and cycling, the challenge of becoming champions of a game you hate, and the impact of sport on popular imagination. For information, giacomobolzoni@gmail.com, bibliotecasportmura@gmail.com and IG @bibliotecadellosportgiannimura.

photo by Silvano Ferrari