The Cuban fisherman, believed to have been the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway's Nobel Prize-winning novel 'The Old Man and The Sea', has died. He was 104.
Gregorio Fuentes, who had been suffering from cancer, died in his own home in Cuba.
Fuentes was the captain of Hemingway's boat 'El Pilar' and his cook for nearly 30 years; many say that the author modelled the main character of his 1952 book on him.
The late American writer met Fuentes in 1928 and they developed a strong friendship. Fuentes inherited the boat, 'El Pilar' from Hemingway and later donated it to the Cuban government.
Fuentes was married to his wife for seventy years, and is survived by two daughters.
