Oscar Hijuelos

Oscar Jerome Hijuelos (August 24, 1951 – October 12, 2013) was an American novelist. He is the first Hispanic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Early life and education.
Hijuelos was born in New York City, in Morningside Heights, Manhattan. His parents were Cuban immigrants. He studied at the Corpus Christi School in Morningside Heights. Later, he attended Bronx Community College, Lehman College, and Manhattan Community College. He studied writing at the City College of New York and earned two degrees in Creative Writing there: his B.A. in1975 and M.A. in 1976. He had several jobs before becoming a full-time writer.
Writing career.
His first novel, "Our House in the Last World", was published in 1983 and received the 1985 Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome. His second novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love", received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was adapted for the film "The Mambo Kings" in 1992 and as a Broadway musical in 2005.
Teaching career.
Hijuelos has taught at Hofstra University. He is a faculty member in the Department of English at Duke University.
Death.
Hijuelos collapsed due to a heart attack while playing tennis in Manhattan and never regained consciousness. He was 62 and is survived by his wife Lori Marie Carlson.