Natsuki Iijima; windsurfer (cancer)
Hyfler/Rosner
March 2, 2005 Wednesday 11:07 AM GMT
Natsuki Iijima, the first world-class professional
windsurfer from Japan, has died after battling liver cancer
for three years and turning the experience into two books,
his associate said Wednesday.
Iijima, 38, died on Monday at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii,
where he spent his last years with his wife and four
children as a cancer patient and a budding
novelist-essayist, Tokyo publicity firm Sunny Side Up Inc.
said.
A Tokyo native, Iijima professionally competed on the
windsurfing World Cup tour for eight years from 1988 before
becoming a marine sport agent based in Guam.
After he was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2002, he turned
to writing and published a novel, inspired by his struggle
with the cancer, last July when he was told by his doctors
that he might live for no longer than six months.
The book "Tengokude Kimini Aetara (If I Could See You in
Heaven)" sold 150,000 copies, helped by a television
documentary featuring his family, according to its publisher
Shinchosha.
The Tokyo firm is scheduled to publish in late March a
collection of his weblog essays, entitled "Gan Ni Ikasarete
(Let Live by Cancer)."
"His ashes will be strewn into Hawaiian waters which
Iijima-san loved much," the publisher said.