Marquez Honored At Memorial Service

Legendary Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez had thousands of people paying their tributes to him at a public memorial service in Mexico on Monday, April 21.

He is best known for his book One Hundred Years of Solitude. The author passed away in his home in adopted Mexico City on Thursday, April 17, at the age of 87. His readers and friends have a three-hour open tribute in the city.

The service took place at Mexico City’s Palace of fine Arts. Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, also attended the service, together with Mexican leader Enrique Pena Nieto. They both paid their tributes, along with the writer’s wife and two sons.

The venue of the service was full of yellow flowers, given that yellow was his favorite color. At the end of the ceremony, guests were throwing yellow paper butterflies into the air, which was a reference to his most famous book.

Before the service, guests lined up to pay respects as they walked pass the urn containing Marquez’s ashes.

After the memorial, the procession continued. There was also a private funeral at Mexico City last week.

His works have achieved critical acclaim and global commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as ‘magic realism’.  It uses magical elements and events in ordinary and realistic situations.

Some of his works are set in an imaginary village called Macondo (the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude.