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Gabriel García Márquez memorial held Gabriel García Márquez memorial held
(4 months later)
A flurry of paper yellow A flurry of paper yellow butterflies rounded off a simple but moving memorial ceremony to celebrate the life and work of Latin American literary giant Gabriel García Márquez who died in his home in Mexico City last Thursday at the age of 87.
butterflies rounded off a simple but moving memorial ceremony to The ceremony inside the Mexican capital's grand Bellas Artes Palace on Monday night included eulogies given by Juan Manuel Santos, president of the writer's native Colombia, and Enrique Peña Nieto, president of Mexico, García Márquez's adopted home for most of the last 50 years.
celebrate the life and work of Latin American literary giant Gabriel “He will live on in his books and writings. But more than anything he will live forever in the hopes of humanity,” Santos said of the man who epitomised the magical realistic writing movement in which fantastical stories are blended with minute attention to everyday detail.
García Márquez who died in his home in Mexico City last Thursday “Eternal glory to the man who has given us glory.”
at the age of 87. Peña Nieto said several generations had “found the answers to the questions of life ” in the Nobel prize winner's work, which he said showed “that fiction and reality are inseparable in our lives”.
The ceremony inside the Mexican capital's grand García Márquez's widow, Mercedes Barcha, watched the ceremony from the front row surrounded by the couple's two sons and grandchildren, graciously acknowledging the tributes that included comparisons to writers ranging from Cervantes to Dickens to Tolstoy without visible signs of losing her composure at the departure of her partner since 1958.
Bellas Artes Palace on Monday night included eulogies given by Juan The writer had been cremated in an earlier private ceremony and the memorial culminated with the two presidents mounting a guard of honour next to an austere wooden urn containing his ashes placed on a black pedestal surrounded by yellow roses.
Manuel Santos, president of the writer's native Colombia, and Enrique The yellow butterflies thrown into the air immediately after were followed by a blast and a cloud of them shot into the darkening night sky outside the building as the guests, including dignitaries from the cultural world as well as many politicians, began to emerge.
Peña Nieto, president of Mexico, García Márquez's adopted home for most of the Yellow was García Márquez's favourite colour and the author was regularly seen with a yellow rose in his lapel. Yellow butterflies also trail one of the characters in his masterpiece One Hundred Year's of Solitude, the most famous of his novels, essays and chronicles that drew from years as a journalist as well as inspirations of classic writers he admired, such as William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, but said he studiously sought to avoid imitating.
last 50 years. Some of the thousands of people of all ages and walks of life who patiently queued up for a chance to file past the ashes during the afternoon before the formal ceremony also carried yellow flowers, while others whiled away the hours first under a punishing sun reading his books, or striking up conversations with their neighbours.
“He will live on in his books and “I came because I love his vision of life and love and death,” said 25-year-old nutritionist Melisa Rangel. “It is all about the kind of things that happen in Latin America and it taught me that life goes on, whatever happens.”
writings. But more than anything he will live forever in the hopes of An elderly stockbroker formally dressed in a black suit clutched a 1967 copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude he happened to have with him and had signed by García Márquez when he came across the writer in a Mexico City supermarket just a few months ago.
humanity,” Santos said of the man who epitomised the “We laughed together about how it had taken me so long to get the autograph and he said it didn't matter how late things happened,” Julio César Salcido remembered. After that the writer took his hand and put his other on his shoulder to add, “but it is always too early to die”.
magical realistic writing movement in which fantastical stories are Family members have not revealed what they intend to do with the ashes, although there have been rumours that at least some of them will go to Colombia where there are plans for a marathon reading of one of his other most famous works, No One Writes to the Colonel.
blended with minute attention to everyday detail.
“Eternal glory
to the man who has given us glory.”
Peña Nieto said several
generations had “found the answers to the questions of life ” in
the Nobel prize winner's work, which he said showed “that fiction and
reality are inseparable in our lives”.
García Márquez's widow,
Mercedes Barcha,
watched the ceremony from the front row surrounded by the couple's
two sons and grandchildren, graciously acknowledging the tributes that
included comparisons to writers ranging from Cervantes to Dickens to
Tolstoy without visible signs of losing her composure at the departure
of her
partner since 1958.
The writer had been cremated in an
earlier private ceremony and the memorial culminated with the two
presidents mounting a guard of honour next to an austere wooden urn
containing his ashes placed on a black pedestal surrounded by yellow roses.
The yellow butterflies thrown into the
air immediately after were followed by a blast and a cloud
of them shot into the darkening night sky outside the building as the
guests, including dignitaries from the cultural world as well as many politicians, began to emerge.
Yellow was García Márquez's favourite
colour and the author was regularly seen with a yellow rose in his
lapel. Yellow butterflies also trail one of the characters in his
masterpiece One Hundred Year's of Solitude, the most famous of his
novels, essays and chronicles that drew from years as a journalist as
well as inspirations of classic writers he admired, such as
William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, but said he studiously sought to avoid imitating.
Some of the thousands of people of all
ages and walks of life who patiently queued up for a chance to file
past the ashes during the afternoon before the formal ceremony also carried yellow flowers,
while others whiled away the hours first under a punishing sun
reading his books, or striking up conversations with their
neighbours.
“I came because I love his vision of
life and love and death,” said 25-year-old nutritionist Melisa
Rangel. “It is all about the kind of things that happen in Latin
America and it taught me that life goes on, whatever happens.”
An elderly stockbroker formally dressed
in a black suit clutched a 1967 copy of One Hundred Years of
Solitude he happened to have with him and had signed by García
Márquez when he came across the writer in a Mexico City supermarket just a few months ago.
“We laughed
together about how it had taken me so long to get the autograph and
he said it didn't matter how late things happened,” Julio César
Salcido remembered. After that the writer took his hand and put his
other on his shoulder to add, “but it is always too early to die”.
Family members have not revealed what
they intend to do with the ashes, although there have been rumours that at least some of them will go to Colombia where there
are plans for a marathon reading of one of his other most famous
works, No One Writes to the Colonel.