Jerusalem: Amos Oz, the renowned Israeli author whose work captured the characters and landscapes of his young nation, and who matured into a leading moral voice and an insistent advocate for peace with the Palestinians, died Friday. He was 79.
His death was announced by his daughter Fania Oz-Salzberger, who wrote on Twitter that he had died after a short battle with cancer, “in his sleep, peacefully.” She did not say where he died.
In recent years Oz had been living in Tel Aviv.
One of Israel’s most prolific writers and respected intellectuals, Oz began storytelling in his early 20s. He published more than a dozen novels, including My Michael and Black Box, as well as collections of short fiction, works of nonfiction and many essays. His work was translated into more than 35 languages.
His acclaimed memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness, was first published in Hebrew in 2002 and became an international best-seller. A movie based on the book, directed by and starring Natalie Portman, was released in 2016.
Among a generation of native Israeli writers that included A.B. Yehoshua and David Grossman, Oz wrote richly in modern Hebrew. The revival of that ancient language was extolled by the founders of the state as a crucial element in forging a new Israeli identity.
Read the article by Isabel Kershner in The Sydney Morning Herald )from The New York Times).