Nobel Laureate Treated for Cancer in L.A.

Yes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian Nobel Prize-winning author, was in Los Angeles last week as the news wires suggested.

Today, he should be home--that is, in one of the seven houses he and his wife, Mercedes, call home.

He came to Los Angeles for medical reasons. In June, he fell ill in Bogota, Colombia. His condition was described by a hospital spokesperson as “general exhaustion syndrome.”

At 72, “Gabo,” as his friends and fans call him, is involved in three big projects: assisting Colombian President Andres Pastrana in his effort to achieve peace in his homeland; writing his memoirs; and managing two journalistic enterprises in Colombia, the Foundation for a New Journalism and the magazine Cambio 16.

The doctors who treated him in Bogota concluded that his activities were too stressful and had weakened him. But there was more. They found he had a “low-intensity lymphoma” and placed him under treatment. They also suggested that he seek a second opinion on the diagnosis and on possible treatment.

The author and his wife came to Los Angeles to get a second opinion. Doctors here confirmed that he has the disease and said he is responding positively to treatment. He is said to be in very good spirits and will return to Los Angeles in a few months for another checkup.