[Videos] Inside Story - Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A literary giant + García Márquez: A Witch Writing - First 11 minutes

An excerpt from, "Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel-winning author, hailed" AP, April 22:

Long into the night, the line of mourners stretched for nearly a mile, waiting their turn to file into Mexico City's majestic Palace of Fine Arts and bid farewell to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian Nobel laureate considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time.

Garcia Marquez, who died Thursday at age 87, was eulogized in a brief ceremony Monday evening in the dramatic art deco lobby by the presidents of both Mexico and Colombia, two countries linked by the writer through his birth, life, heritage and career. Though he was born in Colombia, Garcia Marquez lived in Mexico for decades and wrote some of his best-known works here, including One Hundred Years of Solitude.

"We come as admirers and friends of Gabo from all corners of the planet," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said, using the nickname by which the writer was known throughout Latin America. "He will live on in his books and writings. But more than anything he will live forever in the hopes of humanity."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said the death was "a great loss not only for literature but for humanity. Various generations … found answers to the questions of life in his stories and tales."

An excerpt from, "Barack Obama & Bill Clinton Pay Tribute To Literary Hero Gabriel Garcia" WENN, April 17:

Obama writes, “With the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the world has lost one of its greatest visionary writers – and one of my favorites from the time I was young… I offer my thoughts to his family and friends, whom I hope take solace in the fact that Gabo’s work will live on for generations to come.”

And Clinton, who previously called the author his “literary hero” adds, “From the time I read One Hundred Years of Solitude more than 40 years ago, I was always amazed by his unique gifts of imagination, clarity of thought, and emotional honesty… I was honored to be his friend and to know his great heart and brilliant mind for more than 20 years.”

Meanwhile Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos offers, “A thousand years of loneliness and sadness for the death of the greatest Colombian of all time!”

Inside Story - Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A literary giant. Source: Al Jazeera. Date Published: April 18.


García Márquez: A Witch Writing - First 11 minutes. Source: Evandro Motta. Date Published: November 2, 2011.