Thanks for sharing Uncle Sainey et al. Indeed it is sad news and this is no small loss to world citizens. Chinua in Loving Memory! Yep, rest now that soul of the penthe famous name we all celebratedover the ages, kept the burning flameswhen things were up or downwith words of wisdom, sincerelyand you watched the old baobab trees swayas they danced to times' changeswith the winds of change breezing  hot and coldfor the long awaited redemption. Among the many sons of Africayou kept your tact to the last breatheunlike the others who bullied and dictatednot only our conscience but prostituted our virginityand stripped us naked in all angleswith their tainted ink and barrels of the gunputting the yokes of the chains back on our necksafter the many years of bitter sorrowinsensitive and unsympathetic to our plight. Now that time and death has calleda call that everyone must answer towe mourn and weep bitterlyof your departure to eternityand we pray that the holy angelswelcomes you with that shiny inkas you rest in that serene statuson thrones with breezy islandsaloft mansions where the righteous reside. RIP that Soul of the Pen! By: Yero Jallow  
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Subject: [>-<] Pan-African Perspectives/Chinua Achebe Dies
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:52:59 -0500




 





Nigerian author Chinua Achebe dies

1 hour agoThe writer and academic wrote more than 20 works 
Renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has died at the age of 82 after a brief illness.
A statement from his family said his "wisdom and courage" were an "inspiration to all who knew him".
One of Africa's best known authors, his 1958 debut novel Things Fall Apart, which dealt with the impact of colonialism in Africa, has sold more than 10 million copies.
He had been living in the US since 1990 following injuries from a car crash.


 

 
Bilkisu Labaran, from the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, talks about the influence of Chinua Achebe
The writer and academic wrote more than 20 works - some fiercely critical of politicians and a failure of leadership in Nigeria.
South African writer and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer called him the "father of modern African literature" in 2007 when she was among the judges to award him the Man Booker International Prize in honour of his literary career.
Things Fall Apart has been translated into more than 50 languages and focuses on the traditions of Igbo society and the clash between Western and traditional values.
'Indelible lessons'
The Anambra state government in Nigeria first made the announcement about his death.
Analysts say in Igbo society the death of an important person must be announced by someone in authority.
His home state was in mourning for the death of "the illustrious son of the state, Nigeria and Africa", Mike Udah, spokesman for Anambra state governor Peter Obi, told the BBC.
A statement released on behalf of his family said Mr Achebe was "one of the great literary voices of his time".
"He was also a beloved husband, father, uncle and grandfather, whose wisdom and courage are an inspiration to all who knew him. Professor Achebe's family requests privacy at this time."
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan said Mr Achebe's admirers had all learnt "indelible lessons of human existence" from his works.
"Achebe's frank, truthful and fearless interventions in national affairs will be greatly missed at home in Nigeria because while others may have disagreed with his views, most Nigerians never doubted his immense patriotism and sincere commitment to the building of a greater, more united and prosperous nation that all Africans and the entire black race could be proud of," the president said in a statement.
Last year, Mr Achebe published a long-awaited memoir about the brutal three-year Biafran war - when the south-eastern Igbo region tried to split from Nigeria in 1967.
After leaving Nigeria, he worked in the US as a professor. His 1990 car accident left him paralysed from the waist down and in a wheelchair.
A statement of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory said it offered its condolences to the Achebe family.
The former South African president and anti-apartheid fighter, who spent 27 years in jail, "referred to Prof Achebe as a writer 'in whose company the prison walls fell down'", the statement said.
                                                                                  
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