Maya Angelou

February 25, 2008
From the publication of her celebrated memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
, to her reading of her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration, Maya Angelou (née Marguerite Johnson) has been an inspirational figure. In celebration of her 80th birthday (April 4, 2008), her friends Gillespie and Long, and her niece Butler, honor her life and accomplishments with a biographical tribute chock-full of photographs and snippets of Angelou's own writings. The authors trace her life from the self-imposed silence after her rape at eight through her voracious reading and the stream of words that began when she was 14 at the coaxing of an adult friend. After marrying Tosh Angelos, and bearing her son, Clyde, she ventured successfully into acting (when she changed her name to Maya Angelou) and activism alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but always harbored the desire to write. As this book makes abundantly clear, Angelou's friends view her as a woman whose arms and home are always open and a loyal friend who respects others and loves good food and roaring laughter.

April 1, 2008
Currently a distinguished professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, Maya Angelou, who turns 80 on April 4, has written five best-selling autobiographies, many poetry collections, and numerous essays. In this biography, Gillespie, former editor in chief of "MS" and "Essence" magazines, and coauthors Rosa Johnson Butler, an archivist and Angelou's niece, and Richard A. Long, a cultural historian, offer an intimate portrait of the woman who delivered her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993. Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, taught herself to drive at 15, broke the color line to become a cable-car conductor, and bluffed her way into a journalism career in Cairo, Egypt. Although she never attended college, she has received a number of honorary degrees for all of her accomplishments and doesn't mind being called Dr. Angelou. The book focuses on her marriages; her writing, singing, acting, and dancing careers; her active participation in the Civil Rights Movement; and her sojourn in Africa. One traumatic event in young Angelou's life occurred when she was raped at age eight by one of her mother's male friends; as a result, she didn't speak to anyone for six years. We're glad that she finally reclaimed her voice. A loving tribute to one of the most renowned authors today, this work is highly recommended for all public libraries.Ann Burns, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2008
Adult/High School-This beautiful biography celebrates the life of the distinguished author, poet laureate, playwright, and civil rights activist. It includes her letters, notes, and writings, and more than 100 photographs of family and friends. Gillespie and Long, two of Angelou's close friends, and Johnson Butler, her niece, examine the 80-year-old Angelou's life from her rape at age eight, through her flourishing career in the United States, Egypt, and England, to the delivery of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. This must-have, close-up account is a refreshing reminder that one can overcome adversity, succeed in life, and give back to community and friends."Gregory Lum, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2008
Angelou is a woman who has long used the complexities of her life as a means of understanding the human condition. Traumatized by rape at eight years old, she didnt speak for six years, learning to listen intently and value the importance of words and speech. That experience and her survival skills served her throughouther life, from teenage motherhood through careers as a dancer, cabaret performer, actress, poet, screenwriter, journalist, activist, and scholar. As she moved from the segregated South to California, Harlem, Europe, and Africa, every step of the way Angelou nurtured her love of words and self-expression, her passion for social justice. Gillespie, an old friend, and Rosa Johnson Butler, a relative, recall the rigors of motherhood, failed marriages and relationships, career turbulence, and friendships with James Baldwin, John Killens, Rosa Guy, Malcolm X, Oprah Winfrey, and other luminaries. Short excerpts from interviews with Angelou over the years, as well as Angelous own works and recollections, are all tied together with a narrative of her life. Photos, including pictures of her handwritten notes, add intimacy to this portrait of a towering intellectual, writer, and activist, now in her eighth decade. Thisisa loving tribute to a joyous life well lived.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)