The first book of Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was nearly lost to
history when a London typing service dismissed the handwritten
manuscript sent from Africa as a joke.  Chinua Achebe, Nigerian-
born novelist and poet Associated Press  The joke was on them.
Finally published in 1958, "Things Fall Apart" became an
improbable success, announcing the Nigerian author, and Africa,
on the world's literary stage. It went on to sell more than 10
million copies in 50 languages.  "It literally invented African
literature," said Simon Gikandi, Kenyan author of "Reading
Chinua Achebe."  Mr. Achebe has died, his literary agent
confirmed Friday, following a brief illness. He was 82 years
old.  "He was a giant, and a wise and kind man," said a
statement by John Makinson, chief executive of the Penguin
Group, a unit of Pearson PLC, Mr. Achebe's last publisher.  Born
Nov. 16, 1930, in a roadside town in British Nigeria's rural
southeast, Mr. Achebe sought work as a young man in Lagos, the
colonial capital, where he wrote his firs