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A young man returns to his home town of Aracataca, Colombia.
He visits the house where he lived as a child.
Here, he remembers the most important memories of his childhood.
Standing in front of his old house, the young man makes an important decision.
He says to himself,
"I will start my life over again.
I will become a writer."
This man is world-famous writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
He has become one of the most important Latin American writers ever.
But his story starts in a small river town in the country of Colombia.
Today's Spotlight is on Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born on March 6, 1928.
When he was two years old, his parents moved to the city of Sucre.
But they left him living in the city of Aracataca.
For nine years he lived there with his grandparents.
These years would influence his stories for the rest of his life.
During his early life, Garcia Marquez's grandmother and grandfather told him many stories.
His grandmother would tell him legends – traditional stories that people believe to be true, but
that they cannot prove.
His grandmother would tell him these stories as if they were real.
She could make the most normal events sound amazing.
Garcia Marquez says that his grandmother's way of storytelling later influenced his own
methods.
Garcia Marquez's grandfather would also tell him stories – stories about real life.
For example, his grandfather had fought in the Thousand Day's War in Colombia.
And he would tell young Garcia Marquez about the terrible events of war.
He told Marquez that there was no greater pain than to have killed a man.
When he was 9 years old, his grandfather died.
At this time, he returned to his parents in Bogota.
Garcia Marquez's time in Aracataca was short.
But he would always remember the stories of his grandmother and his grandfather.
And their stories would later help him to produce some of his greatest works of literature.
When Gabriel Garcia Marquez was about 20 years old, he attended university.
He began studying law because this is what his father wanted him to study.
However, Garcia Marquez was not happy.
During this time Garcia Marquez returned to Aracataca, his first home.
It was on this visit that he realized he must stop studying law.
And he recognized that he must return to the passion of his childhood – writing.
Soon after he returned from his visit, he did stop studying law.
Instead, he began writing as a journalist – he wrote news reports for newspapers.
For the next few years, Garcia Marquez wrote for many different newspapers.
And in 1955, he published his first book called "Leaf Storm."
In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha.
And in 1961, they moved to Mexico City.
For many years, Garcia Marquez knew he wanted to write about his grandfather's house in
Aracataca.
Now, he was ready to write.
To write this book, Garcia Marquez and his wife had to sell almost all of their property
to survive.
But their sacrifice was worth it.
The book, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was immediately successful.
And this book created a path for Garcia Marquez's future success.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude," tells a long history of a family who lived in the imaginary
South American village of Macondo.
The story follows seven generations of the Buendia family.
It starts with those who built the village of Macondo.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is not a story about Garcia Marquez's life.
But there are many similarities to his life in Aracataca.
Garcia Marquez even said that the opening story in the book is from a real event in
his life – a time when his grandfather took him to see ice that was stored at a local
fruit company.
But this is not the only book Garcia Marquez wrote that was influenced by real life events.
Many of his other books are as well - including one of the most famous love stories in the
world, "Love in the Time of Cholera."
The book was based in part on the love story of his parents.
In 1982, Gabriel Garcia Marquez was given the Nobel Prize in Literature for his book
"100 Years of Solitude."
He was the first Colombian and the fourth Latin American to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
After receiving his award, he told a reporter:
"I have the belief that they considered all the literature of Latin America when they
gave me this prize.
They have given me the award as a way of giving the award to all of this literature."
In recent years Garcia Marquez has become more involved in Latin American politics.
He wants to bring positive change to the country and continent that gave him such wonderful
memories.
Many people believe Garcia Marquez has the power to bring about great political and social
change in Latin America.
But Garcia Marquez believes it is his continent that has changed him the most.
There is a sign on the road in Aracataca, Colombia.
It repeats the words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It reads,
"I feel Latin America from every country, but I have never forgotten the memories of
my homeland: Aracataca.
One day I returned to this city and discovered the natural materials for my writing: a place
between my memories and the truth."
In 1999, the doctors told Gabriel Garcia Marquez that he had cancer.
Although the cancer was going away, Marquez still decided to write his autobiography.
This book told the story of his life.
He called it "Living to Tell the Tale."
He published it in 2002.
Robert Pombo is a close friend and co-worker of Garcia Marquez.
When Pombo read the autobiography, he discovered something new about his friend's writing.
Pombo realized Garcia Marquez was greatly influenced by the experience at his grandfather's
house in Aracataca.
Pombo described this discovery to the New York Times.
"What you discover is that all of Garcia Marquez's works are in the memories that come to him
when he stands in front of that house."
The writer of this program was Corrie Haluga.
The producer was Ryan Geertsma.
The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.
All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight.
You can find our programs on the internet at www.radioenglish.net.
This program is called, "Between Memories and Truth."
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
Goodbye!