Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou, Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University, continues to produce and accomplish in her 83rd year. Most famous for being an American poet and author, she continues to cross lines of race, gender, sexuality and culture as a historian, playwright, dancer, songwriter, stage and screen producer, performer, director, singer and civil rights activist.
Born in St. Louis, Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Following sexual abuse and murder in her family, she was electively mute for several years, spending the school day reading. She reportedly loved Shakespeare, and in order to hear as well as read the words, she began speaking again at age 13.
From the late ’50s through the late ’80s, she became a coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership conference. At Martin Luther King Jr.’s request, she served as an associate editor in Cairo, Egypt, and in Ghana as a feature editor and assistant administrator at the University of Ghana in Accra.
In 1992, President Bill Clinton asked her to read her poem,“On the Pulse of Morning,” at his inauguration as President Kennedy had asked Robert Frost to do. Recipient of numerous honorary degrees and academic engagements, one of the proudest she has received was the Mother Teresa Award in 2006 for “her untiring devotion and service to humanity.”