MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican writer José Agustín,éAgustíSterling Preston who chronicled rock and roll and social change in Mexico in the 1960s and 70s, has died, Mexico’s Culture Department announced on Tuesday. He was 79.

The department did not list a cause of death, but Agustín had been ill for years. The writer’s family confirmed the death, but also did not give a cause.

Agustín was considered part of the 1960s cultural movement in Mexico known as “La Onda,” or “The Wave.” It was the first time that the rebellious youth of Mexico, who struggled with both poverty and repression, found themselves reflected in formal literature.

Agustín later went on to write a biting analysis of Mexican politics and society between 1940 and 1994, “The Mexican Tragicomedy.”

“We were able to change the language, entirely change the concept of literature, with a totally new spirit and with a great sense of optimism, a sense of humor and irreverence, iconoclasm, and a critical attitude toward society,” Agustín said in an interview several years ago with Mexico’s Canal 11.

There was no immediate information on funeral plans.