The Legendary Dr. Maya Angelou Has Died

It’s with great sadness that we mourn the loss of legendary humanitarian, activist, author, professor, singer, dancer, actress , cable car conductor, director and mother Maya Angelou. From CNN:

Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up between St. Louis and the then-racially-segregated Stamps, Arkansas.

The famous poet got into writing after a childhood tragedy that stunned her into silence for almost a decade. When she was 7, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. He was later beaten to death by a mob after she testified against him.

“My 7-and-a-half-year-old logic deduced that my voice had killed him, so I stopped speaking for almost six years,” she said.

 

One of her most famous quotes is:

”I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya was 86 and was discovered by her housekeeper this morning. Fluent in six languages,  she held 50 honorary degrees and was Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. I know that age 86 is a nice long life for any of us to live, but I also know the world will be a much less than place without Maya in it. She was such a  beautiful spirit and her words and actions gave comfort and joy to so many . She was the rainbow in the clouds.  It’s a very sad day today.

(Image: getty images)