"...later, as he faced the firing squad..."

Robert:

Many people have lauded Gabriel García Márquez as the author of one of the greatest opening lines to a book, ever, from One Hundred Years of Solitude:

 Here it is:

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

 "On behalf of Mexico, I express my sadness for the death of one the greatest writers of our time: Gabriel Garcia Marquez." — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

"From the time I read 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' more than 40 years ago, I was always amazed by his unique gifts of imagination, clarity of thought, and emotional honesty ... I was honored to be his friend and to know his great heart and brilliant mind for more than 20 years." — former U.S. President Bill Clinton.