text: Controversial French Author Francoise Sagan Dies  PARIS (Reuters) - French author Francoise Sagan, who shot  to fame with her first novel "Bonjour Tristesse" at the age of  18 and courted controversy throughout her life, died on Friday,  a hospital spokesman said. Sagan, who was 69, was an icon of  1950s intellectuals and lived the Bohemian lifestyle she  portrayed in her writing. She was a longstanding friend of late  President Francois Mitterrand and was convicted of taking drugs  and for tax evasion.