Chilean author Luis Sepulveda, best known for his book The Old Man Who Read Love Stories , died on Thursday of COVID-19 in a hospital in Asturias, the region of northern Spain where he lived for several decades, his publisher and Spanish media reported.
The 70-year-old author, who exiled to Spain during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, had spent weeks in a hospital in Oviedo fighting the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The writer had recently returned from a literary festival in Porto, Portugal.
“Sepulveda traveled to almost every corner of the world from a very young age, and from that restless life emerged the gifted narration of his stories, passionate tales and novels,” his Spanish publisher Tusquets Editores said in a statement.
The best-selling author, who lived in the coastal city of Gijūn, wrote some 20 novels and short stories, among which are The World at the End of the World , the crime novel The Name of a Bullfighter and the Patagonia Express travel book.
His acclaimed novel The Old Man Who Read Love Stories was translated into numerous languages and became a popular film directed by Rolf de Heer, starring U.S. actor Richard Dreyfuss.
