Poet Maya Angelou has died

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This is a big loss for the world. She was a huge inspiration and influence.
 
:( What a tremendous loss. RIP MA
 
Awe, I got to meet her along with my husband first year at the University of Arkansas she was a lovely lady RIP.
 
Renowned Poet and Author Maya Angelou Dies at 86

By Rehema Ellis and Elizabeth Chuck

Maya Angelou, the renowned poet, author and civil rights activist, has died, officials in her hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told NBC News. The author of the celebrated autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was 86 years old.

Her death comes less than a week after Angelou announced she would not attend the 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon, where she was to be honored, citing "health reasons." Last month, she also canceled an event in Fayetteville, Arkansas, because she was recovering from an "unexpected ailment" that left her hospitalized...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/renowned-poet-author-maya-angelou-dies-86-n116241
 
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou
 
Legendary author Maya Angelou dies

By Faith Karimi, CNN

updated 10:04 AM EDT, Wed May 28, 2014

(CNN) -- Maya Angelou, a renowned poet, novelist and actress whose work defied description under a simple label, has died, her literary agent, Helen Brann, said Wednesday.

She died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Brann said.

A professor, singer and dancer, Angelou's work spans several professions. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her with the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor.

She spent her early years studying dance and drama in San Francisco, but dropped out at age 14, instead becoming the city's first African-American female cable car conductor...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/28/us/maya-angelou-obit/index.html
 
An inspirational woman, a survivor, a mentor to all.
I would rejoice when she was on Oprah.
Such a loss to us all.
 
May 28, 2014 at 10:16 am

Poet Maya Angelou has died

Detroit News staff and wire reports

Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.Wake Forest University announced Angelou’s death in a news release Wednesday.

Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982.

Tall and regal, with a deep, majestic voice, Angelou defied all probability and category, becoming one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author and thriving in virtually every artistic medium. The young single mother who performed at strip clubs to earn a living later wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and performed on stages around the world.

Angelou had been celebrated everywhere from the Grammy Awards to the White House. She received three Grammys for best spoken word album, a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140528/OBITUARIES/305280070#ixzz331JFJAnz
 
Maya Angelou has had a profound influence and impact on my life. I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as a young girl and it forever changed me, as a survivor, a writer, and a human being.

Ms. Angelou can never be replaced. Her poem, And Still I Rise will forever be an anthem, for all of us.

http://youtu.be/JqOqo50LSZ0

May you Rest In Paradise, Maya. I have no doubt you are with the angels today. You have risen, and taken a piece of my heart with you.

Fly high, sweet soul. Fly high.

:candle:

#RIPMaya


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I heard this over the radio tonight - such a very sad loss of a wonderful gifted inspiring human being.
RIP Maya
:rose:
 
kimi_SFC said:
Maya Angelou has had a profound influence and impact on my life. I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as a young girl and it forever changed me, as a survivor, a writer, and a human being.

Ms. Angelou can never be replaced. Her poem, And Still I Rise will forever be an anthem, for all of us.

http://youtu.be/JqOqo50LSZ0

May you Rest In Paradise, Maya. I have no doubt you are with the angels today. You have risen, and taken a piece of my heart with you.

Fly high, sweet soul. Fly high.

:candle:

#RIPMaya


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Do you mean 'I know Why the Caged Bird Sings'? I loved this book and read it relatively young. What an incredible heart, soul and mind this woman had.

She didn't write To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee did.


And Still I Rise gives me goosebumps every time I hear it!

#RIPMaya
 
I decided tonight I would reread 'I know why the caged bird sings', in celebration of Maya Angelou's life - though of course I also feel sadness at her passing.

And of course it is not in my bookshelves. Again. Lent out yet again, and not returned. I think I was on my fourth, fifth copy. Which says it all really. Some writers are like watching a baby bird fly - you know when they take flight they'll soar so beautifully. But inbetween that you are anxiously watching those faltering attempts, and the retreats into the welcoming but now stale nest.

Reading Maya Angelou was always like watching one of those unreachable birds of prey that often soar above my house though. I just put all worries aside and stood in awe of her power and her grace. She opened up a whole world to me that I had no clue about, being England born. Maya's responsible for me reading at least 100 plus books I'd never have read otherwise......maybe, indirectly, for leading me here to WS too.

It sounds so trite but, I wish I could write like she did. Rest in peace and no little glory, Maya Angelou.
 
I have asked a mod to edit my OP - yes, I meant I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings :blushing:

I was SO upset when I posted (I was literally crying when I watched the YouTube video :tears:

My apologies!!!!!!

#RIPMaya




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Very sad news - but what a truly amazing life she lived.

They just played a short clip of her on the news and her gorgeous honeyed tones were unmistakable and so very familiar, although I don't recall spending hours listening to her in my youth. That voice - I genuinely think I would have been quite happy just listening to her chat about pure nonsense.

How fortunate those of you were who got to meet her or hear her speak.

RIP Maya - thank you for all those wonderful, magical words and for providing a shining example of how to live life with passion, honesty and grace.
 
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