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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 31 deceMber 2018
Acclaimed author

Amos Oz dies at 79

By JOSEF FEDERMAN service in 1961. While work-
Associated Press ing in the farming commu-
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli nity's cotton fields, he pub-
author Amoz Oz, one of lished his first short stories.
the country's most widely After earning a degree
acclaimed writers and a in literature from Jerusa-
pre-eminent voice in its lem's Hebrew University,
embattled peace move- he would spend 25 years
ment, died on Friday after on the kibbutz, dividing his
a battle with cancer, his time between writing, farm-
family announced. He was ing and teaching at the
79. community's high school,
His daughter, Fania Oz- according to his website.
Salzberger, announced her As a reserve soldier in a tank
father's death on Twitter. unit, Oz fought in the 1967
"My beloved father, Amos and 1973 Mideast wars.
Oz, a wonderful family In a career spanning half In this Nov. 4, 2015 file photo, Israeli writer Amos Oz poses for a photo at his house in Tel Aviv, Israel.
man, an author, a man of a century, Oz published Associated Press
peace and moderation, over 35 books, including 13
died today peacefully af- novels as well as children's in 50 years," he said. "You In a 2001 interview with Bank and Gaza were as-
ter a short battle with can- books and collections of could hardly get two Israe- The Associated Press, Oz sets to be traded for peace
cer. He was surrounded by short stories, and hundreds lis to agree on the kind of said Israel must wean itself and instead should just be
his lovers and knew it to the of articles on literary and Israel they want." from the view that the West given away.q
end. May his good legacy political topics. His works
continue to amend the were translated into more
world," she wrote. than 40 languages.
Oz was known around His works included "In the
the world for his dozens of Land of Israel," a work
novels, essays and prose that chronicled his trav-
about life in Israel, includ- els and interviews with
ing a well-received mem- people throughout Israel
oir, "A Tale of Love and and the West Bank in the
Darkness." He won some 1980s about the country's
of the literary world's most past and future; "My Mi-
prestigious honors, includ- chael," a novel about a
ing the Goethe Prize and troubled marriage in 1950s
the French Knight's Cross Jerusalem, and "A Tale of
of the Legion D'Honneur, Love and Darkness." That
received honorary doctor- 2002 memoir, recounting
ates and was a perennial his childhood in Jerusalem
candidate for the Nobel and the suicide of his moth-
Prize in literature. er when he was 12 years
Oz was born in Jerusalem in old, won him the Goethe
1939, the son of immigrants Prize and other recogni-
from eastern Europe. As a tions, and was adapted
teen he rebelled against his into a film starring Natalie
upbringing, looking to put Portman.
behind what he felt was his Oz was a leading voice in
parents' world that glamor- Israel's peace movement
ized Europe and the West and a friend of the late Shi-
and instead was drawn to mon Peres, a former prime
the young pioneers who minister and legendary pol-
built the early state. itician who won the Nobel
"I secretly dreamed that Peace Prize for his efforts
one day they would take to reach a deal with the
me away with them. And Palestinians. Oz frequently
make me into a fighting wrote essays and delivered
nation too. That my life lectures urging the coun-
too would become a new try's leaders to establish a
song, a life as pure and Palestinian state as part of
straightforward and simple a peace agreement with
as a glass of water on a hot Israel.
day," he wrote in his 2002 In a 1998 interview, he la-
memoir. mented the deep divisions
He would complete high in Israeli society — a pre-
school at Kibbutz Hulda in scient observation that re-
central Israel, and return to mains true to today.
the kibbutz after complet- "We have not yet estab-
ing his mandatory military lished the rules of the game