Maya Angelou, poet, author and activist, dead at 86

U.S. activist known as a 'national treasure' earned acclaim for memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

May 28, 2014

Celebrated American poet, author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, the cultural force known for her autobiographical book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, has died at the age of 86.

Angelou died Wednesday morning at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to a statement from her son, Guy Johnson.

"She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace," he said.

No cause of death was immediately announced, but her longtime literary agent, Helen Brann, has said Angelou had been in frail health for some time.

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On Friday, Major League Baseball announced that Angelou, who was to be honoured at this week's 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon in Houston, had withdrawn due to undisclosed "health reasons."

The event is typically held before the league's annual Civil Rights Game.

She had also cancelled attending an event in Arkansas, citing her recovery from an "unexpected ailment" that had sent her to hospital.

A life fully lived

A multifaceted woman of many talents, the regal Angelou lived a full, intensely varied life. Rising from a poor upbringing in rural Arkansas to become an American icon widely considered a national treasure, Angelou was a poet, author, performer, educator and activist for civil rights.

Widely considered a literary treasure, Maya Angelou received dozens of honorary degrees and, in 2011, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honour possible for American civilians. (Canadian Press)

Born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis and raised both in Stamps, Ark., and San Francisco — shuttled between her parents and her grandmother — Angelou was a childhood victim of rape who stopped speaking for years after her attacker was beaten to death following her testimony against him. Mute, she turned to books and began writing poetry at the age of nine.

Studying dance and drama in her early teens, she eventually dropped out of high school at 14, but returned and graduated by 17, around the time she also had her son. As a young, single mother, she worked as a stripper and ran a brothel to support her family.

Soon, however, she shifted to work as a singer and dancer, associating with the likes of Phyllis Diller and Billie Holiday, and touring in a production of Porgy and Bess. She renamed herself Maya Angelou.

She spent some time living in Egypt and Ghana, where she met and befriended Nelson Mandela. She also knew Malcolm X and, during her time working with Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was helping the civil rights group organize the Poor People's March in Memphis when King was killed in 1968.

At a party, Angelou met a book editor who dared her to pen a literary autobiography. Published in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Singsvaulted her into fame and made her one of the first African-American women to pen a bestselling book. She would eventually publish half a dozen memoirs.

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Though perhaps best known for her poetry collections and autobiographical works, Angelou's writing also extended to essays, screenplays, stage plays, cookbooks, children's stories and tomes of advice as well. She also wrote music and had a line of greeting cards.

She maintained ties to the performing world over the years, appearing in the stage play Look Away (earning a Tony nomination) and in the landmark TV miniseries Roots (earning an Emmy nomination), and directing the film Down in the Delta. Three of her spoken word albums won Grammy Awards and, in recent years, she hosted a satellite radio show for the Oprah & Friends network.

Honoured American

Chosen to appear at former U.S. president Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993, she created an original composition for the day, On the Pulse of Morning. Her confident delivery and hopeful poem was a sensation and became a rare bestseller for poetry.

Beginning in 1982, Angelou served as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.

"Dr. Angelou was a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions around the world," the school said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Over her lifetime, she was honoured with more than 30 honorary degrees.

Other accolades included receiving:

• The U.S. National Medal of Arts.
• The Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest U.S. honour possible for American civilians) in 2011.
• An honorary National Book Award in 2013.