Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez Dies At 87

Literary genius Gabriel García Márquez has passed on Thursday at the age of 87. The Nobel Prize-winning author is considered one of the greatest Spanish language writers in history and is best known for his works including "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera."

Time writes that the revered writer spent 9 days in the hospital in March due to "an infection in his lungs and urinary tract" a condition that hospitalized him in March." Marquez has been home since April 8 and has been in a stable but fragile condition, adds Time.

The Colombian native from Aracataca passed away in his home in Mexico and is survived by his wife and two sons. The exact cause of the author's death has yet to be confirmed by family and officials.

Time recalls how Marquez, upon winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982,  referred to Latin America as a "source of insatiable creativity, full of sorrow and beauty, of which this roving and nostalgic Colombian is but one cipher more, singled out by fortune. Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of imagination, for our crucial problem has been a lack of conventional means to render our lives believable." 

Marquez, also known as "Gabo," has left behind a great legacy. His novels and short stories provided insight on Latin America, its realities, passion, inequalities and strengths. He was best known for popularizing "magical realism," a genre that unites fantasy and reality with an intense sense of imagination.

Speaking on the death of the literature master, former President Bill Clinton said, "I was saddened to learn of the passing of Gabriel García Márquez. 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. He captured the pain and joy of our common humanity in settings both real and magical," writes CNN.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto took to Twitter and said, "On behalf of Mexico, I express sorrow over the death of one of the greatest writers of our time," reports CNN.