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By Melanie Nathan, July 14, 2014.

It is with much sadness that I note the passing of South African literary giant and Nobel laureate, Nadine Gordimer.

The news was made public today by a spokesperson at the law firm Edward Nathan Sonnenberg, Johannesburg. A statement released through the firm by her family confirmed that she died peacefully at her Johannesburg home. Ms. Gordimer, who was educated at The University of Witwatersrand, (WITS)  my alma mater, was a friend of my late mother and a great inspiration to many of us who grew up in South Africa during those Apartheid years and beyond.  Although she lived to 90, her death is a great loss.  Her legacy and writing will live on to enrich for generations to come.

Nadine Gordimer (20 November 1923 – 13 July 2014) was a South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was recognized as a woman “who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity”. Gordimer’s writing dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. Under that regime, works such as Burger’s Daughter and July’s People were banned. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned. She was also active in HIV/AIDS causes. (WIKIPEDIA)