“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.” — Maya Angelou
World-renowned poet, novelist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou passed away Wednesday at the age of 86.
Helen Brann, Angelou’s literary agent, revealed that the writer died in her Winston-Salem, N.C., home.
Angelou’s role as a poet, novelist, dancer, professor, singer, actor and activist defined her as one of the most talented women of her time. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010, and in 1993, she read her famous original work “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration.
But Angelou’s literary career was defined by I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography that took readers through some of the most agonizing moments of her life. Pages upon pages of beautifully written language transported readers into a rural Arkansas rife with racism, and the memoir opened their eyes to the terror of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of Angelou’s mother’s boyfriend.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was an international bestseller that propelled Angelou to literary stardom. She later penned six more autobiographies.
Angelou was born in St. Louis on April 4, 1928, but later moved to Arkansas and then San Francisco to study dance and drama. She dropped out of the program at age 14, and at 16, she become the city’s first female streetcar driver.
Since then, Angelou earned more than 30 honorary degrees and taught American studies at Wake Forest University. She also danced with Alvin Ailey, toured Europe as a singer in the opera Porgy and Bess and acted off-Broadway.
Aside from these accomplishments, Angelou lived in Egypt and Ghana, where she served as a newspaper editor.
Her death was met with international shock and sadness.
“Maya Angelou has been a towering figure — at Wake Forest and in American culture,” says Wake Forest University President Nathan O. Hatch. “She had a profound influence in civil rights and racial reconciliation. We will miss profoundly her lyrical voice and always keen insights.”
The university is planning a campus memorial service to remember Angelou, while the poet’s family has not yet released any information about a larger ceremony.