Poet Maya Angelou Has Died at Age 86

[ucfgrad93]

USAToday.com is reporting that Maya Angelou has died.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/b...ge-86/9663497/

[AJ Starr]

FYI, a moderator needs to edit your title.

[HarryT]

Not a person I've ever heard of, but seven autobiographies? Isn't one enough for most people?

[DiapDealer]

Sad news. The world is a little uglier without her in it.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

FYI, a moderator needs to edit your title.

Why is that?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

Why is that?

It said "Diet" rather than "Died". I edited it.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not a person I've ever heard of, but seven autobiographies? Isn't one enough for most people?

Kind of surprising for a literary person like you. Well known in the U.S. Poet and author. And they aren't 7 autobiographies. They are 7 autobiographical books. Probably the most famous is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Kind of surprising for a literary person like you. Well known in the U.S. Poet and author. And they aren't 7 autobiographies. They are 7 autobiographical books. Probably the most famous is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

I'd be interested to know if any other British MR members have heard of her. I honestly never have.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It said "Diet" rather than "Died". I edited it.

Oops, that is embarrassing. Thanks for correcting it.

[crich70]

I remember her best from "Roots" as one of the characters who was in Africa. I think she played Kunta Kente's (Levar Borton's) grandmother if I remember right.

[ProfCrash]

She wrote and recited a poem at President Clinton's innaguaration and is a well known poet, novelist and activist in the US. She was a pretty amazing woman. I was honored and excited to see her speak once. I think the vast majority of Americans read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in high school.

From Wikipedia

"Maya Angelou (/ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/;[1][2] born Marguerite Ann Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American author and poet. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years. She received dozens of awards and over thirty honorary doctoral degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of seventeen, and brought her international recognition and acclaim.

She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, prostitute, night-club dancer and performer, cast-member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the days of decolonization. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. Since 1982, she taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she holds the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Since the 1990s she made around eighty appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.

With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson of black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of black culture. Although attempts have been made to ban her books from some US libraries, her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide. Angelou's major works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics have characterized them as autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family, and travel. Angelou is best known for her autobiographies, but she is also an established poet, although her poems have received mixed reviews."

[sun surfer]

I know who she is but I haven't read anything by her and had no idea she led such a very varied life. Reading that article gives the impression that she completely changed her life every few years or so and was somehow successful in many different fields. I really should read something by her, probably starting with the famous "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings".

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd be interested to know if any other British MR members have heard of her. I honestly never have.

Actually, there is no reason for non-Americans to recognize all the American authors. I'm sure there are *many* first class British authors I wouldn't recognize.

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

She wrote and recited a poem at President Clinton's innaguaration and is a well known poet, novelist and activist in the US. She was a pretty amazing woman. I was honored and excited to see her speak once. I think the vast majority of Americans read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in high school.

Is this the poem?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xGmHzxtZ4

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Actually, there is no reason for non-Americans to recognize all the American authors. I'm sure there are *many* first class British authors I wouldn't recognize.

Agreed. I (from Canada) know the name and a bit about her, but have read nothing. We are all victims of geography which is why I made my reading challenge as I did for this year.

[sun surfer]

She really led a truly extraordinary life that I didn't know about until now. Just from the article, it mentions: She was raped at 8 years old, didn’t talk for years after her uncles murdered her attacker, was 6 feet tall and dropped out of school at 14, was an unwed mother at 17, became the first black female street car conductor in San Francisco, was a madam in a brothel, toured the world performing in the musical Porgy and Bess, produced and starred in a show for Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was a journalist in Egypt, taught music and dance at the University of Ghana, was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in the famous mini-series Roots, and on top of all that, became most famous as a writer, and spent her later years as a professor as well.