Iain Banks dies of cancer at 59

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Scottish writer Iain Banks, who in April had announced he was dying because of a late stage cancer, has passed away. He was 59.
In April, Banks had issued a statement saying he was dying and was not expected to live for more than a year. “The bottom line, now, I’m afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I’m expected to live for ‘several months’ and it’s extremely unlikely I’ll live beyond a year,” he said. His cancer, which started in gall bladder, had infected both lobes of liver and probably pancreas and some lymph nodes and one tumour was massed near a major group of blood vessels, which ruled out surgery as an option. In fact, Banks married his long-term partner after the shocking diagnosis. “I’ve asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry - but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we’ll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us,” the statement in April had revealed. Banks, whose first novel, The Wasp Factory, is considered to be one of top 100 books of the 20th century, survived two months after the announcement. His last book, The Quarry, was published barely weeks ago after his publishers speeded up the process on his request. Iain (Menzies) Banks, who was born in Fife in 1954, studied English literature, philosophy and psychology at Stirling University. He also wrote science fiction as Iain M. Banks.
His first science fiction novel, Consider Phlebas, was published in 1987. In May Banks wrote a message on his website, thanking people for love and messages they had sent him on hearing his news.
He also had revealed that he sent fan letters to Scottish writer and artist Alasdair Gray and English writer M. John Harrison.