''There is a kind of strength that is almost frightening in black women. It's as if a steel rod runs right through the head down to the feet.''Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author. interview broadcast, Nov. 21, 1973. "A Conversation with Maya Angelou," Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989).
Author and poet Maya Angelou (MY'-ah ANJ'-eh-loh), who rose from
poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and
the printed page, has died. She was 86.
Wake Forest University announced Angelou's death in a news release Wednesday.
She
gained acclaim for her first book, her autobiography "I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings," making her one of the first African-American women to
write a best-seller.
In
1998, she directed the film "Down in the Delta" about a drug-wrecked
woman who returns to the home of her ancestors in the Mississippi Delta.
She
was the poet chosen to read at President Bill Clinton's first
inauguration in 1993. She wrote and read an original composition, "On
the Pulse of Morning," which became a million-seller.
Born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928) she has been called "America's most visible black female
autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her
series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and
early adult experiences. The first and most highly acclaimed, I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her first seventeen years. It
brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National
Book Award. She has been awarded over 30 honorary degrees and was
nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give
Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie.
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