American author Peter Kaldheim dies while giving a monologue in Barcelona
The 74-year-old writer published 'Idiot Wind: A Memoir,' a life marked by drugs and time in prison
The author from New York (United States), Peter Kaldheim, has died aged 74 while performing a comedy monologue on a stage in Barcelona on Friday night, as Spanish newspaper 'La Vanguardia' first reported, and the Catalan News Agency (ACN) was able to confirm via the Catalan emergency services (SEM).
Kaldheim was performing at Cronopios Hall in the Raval neighborhood, in the city center, when he collapsed on the floor after reportedly feeling sick.
There were three health emergency units deployed, but they could not save him, and the writer passed away on the site.
Kaldheim had published one book: 'Idiot Wind: A Memoir,' based on autobiographical events. He traveled to Barcelona often.
Friday's gig was his first time performing a monologue in Spanish.
His remains will now be expatriated to the United States.
Born in New Hampshire in 1949, Kaldheim was one of the last survivors of the 'Beat Generation,' whose work influenced politics and culture in a post-WWII United States
After obtaining an English literature degree in the 1970s, Kaldheim's career was marked by drugs and alcohol.
The author served time at a prison in Rikers Island, New York, for selling drugs, and was released in the 1980s. At the time, he traveled across the U.S. for three years with no money and no family, living on the streets or traveling by cargo trains or hitchhiking.