newsmakers

newsmakers

Garcia Marquez, Nobel laureate, dies at 87

MEXICO CITY

Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez crafted intoxicating fiction from the fatalism, fantasy, cruelty and heroics of the world that set his mind churning as a child growing up on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

One of the most revered and influential writers of his generation, he brought Latin America’s charm and maddening contradictions to life in the minds of millions and became the best-known practitioner of “magical realism,” a blending of fantastic elements into portrayals of daily life that made the extraordinary seem almost routine.

In his works, clouds of yellow butterflies precede a forbidden lover’s arrival. A heroic liberator of nations dies alone, destitute and far from home. “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings,” as one of his short stories is called, is spotted in a muddy courtyard.

Garcia Marquez’s own epic story ended Thursday, at age 87, with his death at his home in southern Mexico City, according to two people close to the family who spoke on condition of anonymity out of respect for the family’s privacy.

Known to millions simply as “Gabo,” Garcia Marquez was widely seen as the Spanish language’s most-popular writer since Miguel de Cervantes in the 17th century. His extraordinary literary celebrity spawned comparisons to Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

His flamboyant and melancholy works — among them “Chronicle of a Death Foretold,” “Love in the Time of Cholera” and “Autumn of the Patriarch” — outsold everything published in Spanish except the Bible. The epic 1967 novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” sold more than 50 million copies in more than 25 languages.

With writers including Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe, Garcia Marquez also was an early practitioner of the literary nonfiction that would become known as New Journalism. He became an elder statesman of Latin American journalism, with magisterial works of narrative non-fiction that included “Story of A Shipwrecked Sailor,” the tale of a seaman lost on a life raft for 10 days. He also was a scion of the region’s left.

Shorter pieces dealt with subjects including Venezuela’s larger-than-life president, Hugo Chavez, while the book “News of a Kidnapping” vividly portrayed how cocaine traffickers led by Pablo Escobar had shredded the social and moral fabric of his native Colombia, kidnapping members of its elite. In 1994, Garcia Marquez founded the Iberoamerican Foundation for New Journalism, which offers training and competitions to raise the standard of narrative and investigative journalism across Latin America.

Labels sue Pandora over older songs

NEW YORK

Major record labels are suing Internet radio giant Pandora for copyright infringement for using songs recorded before 1972 without paying license fees.

The labels, including divisions of Sony, Warner and Universal, argue that songs such as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” are not covered by federal copyright law, but they have been protected in common law by states including New York.

The labels say artists and labels have been deprived of tens of millions of dollars every year by services such as Pandora Media Inc.

Pandora streams songs randomly according to artists or genres such as “Motown” or “’60s Oldies.”

Hospitalized Cyrus postpones more shows

NEW YORK

Miley Cyrus is postponing more concerts as she remains in a hospital for a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics.

A representative says the singer won’t perform in Nashville, Tenn., today and Louisville, Ky., on Saturday. Those concerts will be rescheduled.

Cyrus suffered from a sinus infection last week during her “Bangerz” tour. Her rep says she had “an extreme allergic reaction” to the antibiotic cephalexin.

This week, Cyrus also canceled concerts in St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. She postponed a show in Charlotte, N.C., last week because of the flu.

Associated Press