Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — Maya Angelou is being remembered as a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page.
She called herself a poet, telling The Associated Press last year that she was in love with the "sound of language."
A victim of rape at age 7, she didn't speak for years but was writing poetry at age 9 and became a mother by 17. She eventually told her story in her memoir "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
Honored by presidents with the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Angelou recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. Her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning" at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration became a best-seller.
Angelou's son, Guy B. Johnson, says she "lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being" and served as "a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace."
Johnson says his mother died this morning at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had been a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University for more than three decades. Maya Angelou was 86.
%@AP Links
153-w-30-(Michael Weinfeld, AP entertainment editor, with Wesley Snipes, Maya Angelou (MEYE'-uh AN'-juh-loh))--Poet and author Maya Angelou has died. AP Entertainment Editor Michael Weinfeld has the story. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *153 (05/28/14)££ 00:30
154-q-07-(Maya Angelou (MEYE'-uh AN'-juh-loh), in 1999 interview)-"what you see"-In a 1999 interview, Maya Angelou was asked what makes a good poet. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *154 (05/28/14)££ 00:07 "what you see"
155-a-13-(Maya Angelou (MEYE'-uh AN'-juh-loh), in 1999 interview)-"in the night"-In a 1999 interview, Maya Angelou said she put a bit of herself into every poem. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *155 (05/28/14)££ 00:13 "in the night"
156-a-12-(Maya Angelou (MEYE'-uh AN'-juh-loh), in 1999 interview)-"life is strange"-In a 1999 interview, Maya Angelou said she'd led an eventful life. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *156 (05/28/14)££ 00:12 "life is strange"
159-a-15-(Sound of Maya Angelou (MEYE'-uh AN'-juh-loh) in 1993, reciting part of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's inauguration)-"hope, good morning (applause)"-Sound of Maya Angelou in 1993 reciting part of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's inauguration. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *159 (05/28/14)££ 00:15 "hope, good morning (applause)"
192-a-11-(Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, in AP interview)-"to her words"-Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Maya Angelou was more than a writer. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *192 (05/28/14)££ 00:11 "to her words"
193-a-10-(Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, in AP interview)-"in her presence"-Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Maya Angelou was unforgettable. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *193 (05/28/14)££ 00:10 "in her presence"
194-a-14-(Al Sharpton, civil rights activist, in AP interview)-"a better world"-Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Angelou's writing encompassed loss and hope. (28 May 2014)
<<CUT *194 (05/28/14)££ 00:14 "a better world"
APPHOTO NYDG116: FILE - In this Nov. 3, 1971 file photo, Maya Angelou poses with a copy of her book, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," in Los Angeles. Angelou, a Renaissance woman and cultural pioneer, has died, Wake Forest University said in a statement Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/File) (3 Nov 1971)
<<APPHOTO NYDG116 (11/03/71)££
APPHOTO NCWIN103: In this March 29, 2002 photo, Maya Angelou speaks at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. Angelou, a Renaissance woman and cultural pioneer, has died, Wake Forest University said in a statement Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/Winston-Salem Journal, David Rolfe) (29 Mar 2002)
<<APPHOTO NCWIN103 (03/29/02)££
APPHOTO NYDG103: FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2008 file photo, poet Maya Angelou smiles at an event in Washington. Angelou, a Renaissance woman and cultural pioneer, has died, Wake Forest University said in a statement Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) (11 Dec 2008)
<<APPHOTO NYDG103 (12/11/08)££
APPHOTO NYDG108: FILE - In this Jan. 20, 1993 file photo, U.S. President Bill Clinton reaches out to hug poet Maya Angelou after she delivered the inaugural poem during his inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. Angelou, a Renaissance woman and cultural pioneer, has died, Wake Forest University said in a statement Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (28 May 2014)
<<APPHOTO NYDG108 (05/28/14)££
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
