“If you’re always trying to be normal,
you will never know how amazing you can be.”
Maya Angelou, writer, civil rights activist and academic, died
Wednesday, May 28 at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. at the age of 86. A
prolific writer, poet, dancer, director, Angelou’s first book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” led
to volumes of poetry, essays, picture books, 5 more autobiographies and one
cookbook. Growing up in the South, Angelou writes of the differences between
whites and blacks in the United States during her lifetime.
She holds the distinction of writing the first black woman’s memoir and
opened the door for Toni Morrison and Alice Walker’s works. After time in
Africa, Martin Luther King asked her to serve as northern coordinator for the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She reached for the skies, writing
the inaugural poem, “On the Pulse of Morning” for President Clinton’s 1993
Inaugural.
Maya had a child at 17 while in high school, keeping her pregnancy
hidden for 8 months from her parents, who welcomed Little Clyde. She graduated from an arts high school, took
care of her child and held jobs ranging from cocktail waitress to short order
cook to dancer. She danced with Alvin
Ailey and toured in “Porgy and Bess” moving to Broadway in 1973 to portray Mary
Todd Lincoln in “Look Away”
In the NHTI Library’s book display, you will find many of her
works. Stop in to borrow one and savor
her words.
