The award-winning author, poet, and civil rights activist was found unresponsive inside her Winston-Salem home.
Jim Young / Reuters
Award-winning U.S. poet Maya Angelou, writer of the classic autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" has died in her home in Winston-Salem. She was 86 years-old.
Her death has been confirmed by Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, who said that Angelou was found by her caretaker on Wednesday morning, Fox reports.
Angelou had been reportedly been sufferings from health problems, and canceled a scheduled appearance of a special event to be held in her honor.
The prolific writer was known not only as a renowned poet, but also as a historian and civil rights advocate, and as an actress and screen writer. She wrote the screenplay for the film Georgia, which was the first by an African American woman. The Georgia script was later nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Angelou received over 50 honorary degrees in her lifetime, and was a Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1rgkGnC
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