A prolific writer who
started out as a newspaper reporter, Garcia Marquez's masterpiece …………………………………… ( be
) "One Hundred Years of
Solitude," a dream-like, dynastic epic that …………………………………… ( help
) him win the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1982.
Garcia Marquez's novel …………………………………… ( tell
) the story of seven generations of the
Buendia family in the fictional village of Macondo, based on the languid town
of Aracataca close to Colombia's Caribbean coast where he …………………………………… ( be
born) on March 6, 1927, and where his maternal grandparents ………………………………… ( bring
) him up.
His novel …………………………………… ( sell
) over 30 million copies, …………………………… ( be ) published in dozens of languages
and …………………………………… ( help ) fuel a boom in Latin American fiction.
A stocky man with a
quick smile, thick mustache and curly hair, Garcia Marquez said he …………………………………… ( find
) inspiration for the novel by drawing on
childhood memories of his grandmother's stories.
"She …………………………………… ( tell
) things that…………………………………… ( sound
)supernatural and fantastic, but she …………………………………… ( tell
) them with complete naturalness," he …………………………………… (
say ) in a 1981 interview.
Although "One
Hundred Years of Solitude" …………………………………… ( be ) his most popular creation, other classics from Garcia
Marquez ……………………………………
(include ) "Autumn of the Patriarch",
"Love in the Time of Cholera" and "Chronicle of a Death
Foretold".
Like many of his Latin
American literary contemporaries, Garcia Marquez …………………………………… ( become
) increasingly involved in politics. He …………………………………… ( spend ) time in post-revolution Cuba and ……………………………………
(develop ) a close friendship with communist leader
Fidel Castro, to whom he …………………………………… ( send ) drafts of his books.
"A man of cosmic
talent with the generosity of a child, a man for tomorrow," Castro once …………………………………… ( write
) of his friend.
The United States …………………………………… ( ban
) Garcia Marquez from visiting for years
after he ……………………………………
( set up ) the New York branch of communist Cuba's
official news agency and …………………………………. ( be ) accused of funding leftist
guerrillas at home.
Despite his reputation
as a left-leaning intellectual, critics say Garcia Marquez …………………………………… ( do
- negative ) as much as he could to help negotiate an end
to Colombia's long conflict. Instead, he…………………………………… ( leave ) his homeland and ……………………………… (go ) to live in
Mexico..
García Marquez and
fellow Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa of Perú, who …………………………………… ( be
) once friends, …………………………………… (stop
) speaking to each other after a day in
1976 when Vargas Llosa …………………………………… ( give ) Garcia
Marquez a black eye in a dispute - depending on who one believes - over politics
or Vargas Llosa's wife.
But Vargas Llosa …………………………………… ( pay
) tribute to Garcia Marquez on Thursday,
calling him a "great writer whose novels will live on”.
A heavy smoker for most
of his life, he ……………………………………..... ( be ) diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1999, although the disease …………………………………… ( go
) into remission after chemotherapy
treatment.
Garcia
Marquez …………………………………… ( be
) survived by Mercedes Barcha, his wife of
more than 55 years, and by two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo.
When he was working,
Garcia Marquez …………………………………….... ( wake up ) before dawn every day, ……………………………… ( read ) a book, …………………………………… (skim ) through the newspapers and then …………………………………… ( write ) for four hours. His wife …………………………………… ( put
) a yellow rose on his desk.
His last public appearance
……………………………………
( be ) when he …………………………………… ( come ) out from his Mexico City home to smile and wave at
well-wishers, a yellow rose in the lapel of his gray suit.
