Sembene Ousmane has passed away

I know that I'm supposed to be away on vacation but when I learned this news I just had to post it. Sembene Ousmane, one of my favorite authors, has passed away at age 84. I thought "God's Bits of Wood" was one of the best books I've ever read. He was an amazing filmmaker as well. It was kind of funny, some people only knew him as a filmmaker and others, like myself, only as an author. I remember how surprised I was in college when a filmmaker friend told me he was going to see a movie by Sembene Ousmane. And I said, "Sembene Ousmane the author?" and he said, "He writes books, too?"

I tried to see Sembene Ousmane when he was here for Yari Yari at NYU back in 2003 and even then he was too tired to make it to his own event. So it's not really a surprise that he passed away but it is still a sad shock.

Rest in peace, my brother, you did well.