Chinua Achebe, the internationally celebrated Nigerian authort, died at age 82 on Thursday. His novel Things Fall Apart has become the most widely read novel by an African. For Mr. Achebe, "the African context held the very question of human existence," said Lewis Gordon, professor of philosophy, religion, Jewish studies, and African American studies at Temple. His works may have begun with Africa, but they broadened out to all humanity, says Lewis, "which is why Things Fall Apart is read all around the world."