<p>Leading Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who scored an international hit with his Barcelona-based mystery "The Shadow of the Wind", died on Friday, his publishing house said. He was 55.</p>.<p>"Today Carlos Ruiz Zafon has died, one of the best contemporary novelists. We will remember you forever, Carlos!" Planeta publishing house wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>In a statement, Planeta said Ruis Zafon had died at his Los Angeles home after battling cancer.</p>.<p>"He will live on among us through his books," it added.</p>.<p>Written in 2001, "The Shadow of the Wind" was his best-known work and one of the most successful Spanish novels of recent decades.</p>.<p>In the statement, Planeta quoted a line from the novel when protagonist Daniel Sempere is first shown the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a labyrinthine, mystical secret library around which the story is woven.</p>.<p>"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."</p>.<p>Thus begins an atmospheric story set in Ruiz Zafon's native Barcelona in the wake of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) in which Sempere tries to unravel the mystery surrounding the author of a certain book.</p>.<p>"Shadow of the Wind" was an immediate hit and has since been translated into some 50 languages, selling millions of copies and becoming the first of a quartet of novels in his "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series.</p>.<p>The last book, "The Labyrinth of Spirits", was published in 2016, two years before he was diagnosed with cancer.</p>.<p>At the time, he explained why he had never let any of his works be adapted for cinema.</p>.<p>"For me, these books are a homage to literature, to the written word. For that reason, transforming them for the cinema or television would be a betrayal," he said.</p>.<p>Born in Barcelona in 1964, Ruiz Zafon studied at a religious school then earned a degree in information sciences.</p>.<p>A lover of books since childhood, he didn't publish his first novel until he was nearly 30 after leaving a career in advertising.</p>
<p>Leading Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who scored an international hit with his Barcelona-based mystery "The Shadow of the Wind", died on Friday, his publishing house said. He was 55.</p>.<p>"Today Carlos Ruiz Zafon has died, one of the best contemporary novelists. We will remember you forever, Carlos!" Planeta publishing house wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>In a statement, Planeta said Ruis Zafon had died at his Los Angeles home after battling cancer.</p>.<p>"He will live on among us through his books," it added.</p>.<p>Written in 2001, "The Shadow of the Wind" was his best-known work and one of the most successful Spanish novels of recent decades.</p>.<p>In the statement, Planeta quoted a line from the novel when protagonist Daniel Sempere is first shown the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a labyrinthine, mystical secret library around which the story is woven.</p>.<p>"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."</p>.<p>Thus begins an atmospheric story set in Ruiz Zafon's native Barcelona in the wake of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) in which Sempere tries to unravel the mystery surrounding the author of a certain book.</p>.<p>"Shadow of the Wind" was an immediate hit and has since been translated into some 50 languages, selling millions of copies and becoming the first of a quartet of novels in his "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series.</p>.<p>The last book, "The Labyrinth of Spirits", was published in 2016, two years before he was diagnosed with cancer.</p>.<p>At the time, he explained why he had never let any of his works be adapted for cinema.</p>.<p>"For me, these books are a homage to literature, to the written word. For that reason, transforming them for the cinema or television would be a betrayal," he said.</p>.<p>Born in Barcelona in 1964, Ruiz Zafon studied at a religious school then earned a degree in information sciences.</p>.<p>A lover of books since childhood, he didn't publish his first novel until he was nearly 30 after leaving a career in advertising.</p>