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Poets Corner
When we decide to be happy we accept the responsibility to bring happiness to someone else
Poet, Author, Civil Rights Activist Dr. Maya Angelou (1928–2014)
Dr. Maya Angelou is a revered inspiring author and poet, educator, historian best -selling author, historian, actress, dancer, civil right activist, producer and director multi-talented in so many ways, but a guiding light for humanity. Dr. Angelou's ability to inspire will live on in her prolific thoughts, proverbs and works; a true honest heart and soul that lead a fulfilling, successful happy and joyful life. Though the world is less wise, has less morals and ethics with Dr. Maya Angelou's departure, her wisdom will continue to serve as an inspiration to us and to future generations.
Dr.Maya Angelou is a poet and award-winning author known for her acclaimed memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her numerous poetry, quotes and essay collections. Born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, writer and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou is known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. In 1971, Dr.Angelou published the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die. She later wrote the poem "On the Pulse of Morning" one of her most famous works which she recited at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. Dr.Angelou has received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009.
Multi-talented barely seems to cover the depth and breadth of Dr. Maya Angelou's accomplishments. She is an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer and poet. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Dr. Maya Angelou had a difficult childhood. Her parents split up when she was very young, and she and her older brother, Bailey, were sent to live with their father's mother, Anne Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas.
As an African American, Dr. Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudices and discrimination in Arkansas. She also suffered at the hands of a family associate around the age of 7: During a visit with her mother, Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Then, as vengeance for the sexual assault, her uncle killed the boyfriend. So traumatized by the experience, she stopped talking, and returned to Arkansas and spent years as a virtual mute.
During World War II, Dr. Angelou moved to San Francisco, California, where she won a scholarship to study dance and acting at the California Labor School. Also during this time,Dr. Angelou became the first black female cable car conductor a job she held only briefly, in San Francisco.
In 1944, a 16-year-old Dr.Angelou gave birth to a son, Guy (a short-lived high school relationship had led to the pregnancy), thereafter working a number of jobs to support herself and her child. In 1952, the future literary icon wed Anastasios Angelopulos, a Greek sailor from whom she took her professional name a blend of her childhood nickname, "Maya," and a shortened version of his surname.
Career Beginnings
In the mid-1950s, Angelou's career as a performer began to take off. She landed a role in a touring production of Porgy and Bess, later appearing in the off-Broadway production Calypso Heat Wave (1957) and releasing her first album, Miss Calypso (1957). A member of the Harlem Writers Guild and a civil rights activist, Dr. Angelou organized and starred in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, also serving as the SCLC's northern coordinator.
In 1961, Dr. Angelou appeared in an off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks with James Earl Jones, Louis Gossett Jr. and Cicely Tyson. While the play earned strong reviews, Dr. Angelou moved on to other pursuits, spending much of the 1960s abroad; she first lived in Egypt and then in Ghana, working as an editor and a freelance writer. Dr. Angelou also held a teaching position at the University of Ghana.
After returning to the United States, Dr. Angelou was urged by friend and fellow writer James Baldwin to write about her life experiences. Her efforts resulted in the enormously successful 1969 memoir about her childhood and young adult years, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. The poignant work also made Dr. Angelou an international star.
Since publishing Caged Bird, Dr. Angelou has continued to break new ground not just artistically, but educationally and socially. She wrote the drama Georgia, Georgia in 1972 becoming the first African-American woman to have her screenplay produced and went on to earn a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away (1973) and an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the television miniseries Roots(1977), among other honors.
Later Successes
Dr.Angelou has written several autobiographies throughout her career, including All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), but 1969's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings continues to be regarded as her most popular autobiographical work. She has also published several collections of poetry, including Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die (1971), which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize One of Angelou's most famous works is the poem "On the Pulse of Morning," which she wrote especially for and recited at President Bill Clinton's inaugural ceremony in January 1993 marking the first inaugural recitation since 1961, when Robert Frost delivered his poem "The Gift Outright" at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration. Angelou went on to win a Grammy Award (best spoken word album) for the audio version of the poem.
In 1995, Dr. Angelou was lauded for remaining on The New York Times' paperback nonfiction best-seller list for two years the longest-running record in the chart's history.Seeking new creative challenges, Dr. Angelou made her directorial debut in 1998 with Down in the Delta, starring Alfre Woodard. She has also written a number of inspirational works, from the essay collection Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now(1994) to her advice for young women in Letter to My Daughter (2008). Interested in health, Angelou has even published cookbooks, includingHallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories With Recipes (2005) and Great Food, All Day Long (2010). Dr.Angelou's career has seen numerous accolades, including the Chicago International Film Festival's 1998 Audience Choice Award and a nod from the Acapulco Black Film Festival in 1999 for Down in the Delta; and two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, for her 2005 cookbook and 2008's Letter to My Daughter.
Personal Life
Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., a close friend of Dr. Angelou's, was assassinated on her birthday (April 4) in 1968. Dr. Maya Angelou stopped celebrating her birthday for years afterward, and sent flowers to Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, for more than 30 years, until Coretta's death in 2006.
Dr. Angelou was good friends with Oprah Winfrey, who has organized several birthday celebrations for the award-winning author, including a week-long cruise for her 70th birthday in 1998.
After experiencing health issues for a number of years, Dr. Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The news of her passing spread quickly with many people taking to social media to mourn and remember Dr. Angelou. President Barack Obama issued a statement about Dr. Angelou, calling her "a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman." Angelou "had the ability to remind us that we are all God's children; that we all have something to offer," he wrote
Author of books:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970, memoir)
Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971, poetry)
Gather Together in My Name (1974, memoir)
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975, poetry)
And Still I Rise (1978, poetry)
The Heart of a Woman (1981)
Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? (1983, poetry)
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986, memoir)
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994, poetry)
A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002)
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Random House (New York, NY), 1970, many reprintings.
- Gather Together in My Name, Random House (New York, NY), 1974, many reprintings.
- Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry like Christmas, Random House (New York, NY), 1976.
- The Heart of a Woman, Random House (New York, NY), 1981.
- All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes, Random House (New York, NY), 1986, many reprintings.
- A Song Flung up to Heaven, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (omnibus edition of all six autobiographies), Modern Library (New York, NY), 2004.
- Mom & Me & Mom, Random House (New York, NY), 2013.
- Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie, Random House (New York, NY), 1971, many reprintings.
- Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, Random House (New York, NY), 1975, many reprintings.
- And Still I Rise, Random House (New York, NY), 1978, new version published as Still I Rise, illustrated by Diego Rivera, edited by Linda Sunshine, Random House (New York, NY), 2001, many reprintings.
- Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?, Random House (New York, NY), 1983, many reprintings.
- Poems, four volumes, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.
- Now Sheba Sings the Song (illustrated poem), illustrations by Tom Feelings, Dutton (New York, NY), 1987.
- I Shall Not Be Moved, Random House (New York, NY), 1990, many reprintings.
- On the Pulse of Morning, Random House (New York, NY), 1993, many reprintings.
- The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, Random House (New York, NY), 1994, many reprintings.
- A Brave and Startling Truth, Random House (New York, NY), 1995.
- Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women, Random House (New York, NY), 1995, new edition published as Phenomenal Woman, paintings by Paul Gaugin, edited by Linda Sunshine, Random House (New York, NY), 2000.
- Amazing Peace, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.
ESSAYS
- Lessons in Living, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.
- Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.
- Even the Stars Look Lonesome, Random House (New York, NY), 1997.
- Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
- Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me, Random House (New York, NY), 2006.
- Letter to my Daughter, Random House (New York, NY), 2008.
- Mrs. Flowers: A Moment of Friendship (selection from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) illustrated by Etienne Delessert, Redpath Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1986.
- Life Doesn't Frighten Me (poem), edited by Sara Jane Boyers, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York, NY), 1993.
- (With others) Soul Looks Back in Wonder, illustrated by Tom Feelings, Dial (New York, NY), 1993.
- My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me, photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Crown (New York, NY), 1994.
- Kofi and His Magic, photographs by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Crown (New York, NY), 1996.
- Angelina of Italy, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
- Izak of Lapland, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
- Renie Marie of France, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
- Mikale of Hawaii, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
PLAYS
- (With Godfrey Cambridge) Cabaret for Freedom (musical revue), produced at Village Gate Theatre, New York, 1960.
- The Least of These (two-act drama), produced in Los Angeles, 1966.
- (Adapter) Sophocles, Ajax (two-act drama), produced at Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1974.
- (And director) And Still I Rise (one-act musical), produced in Oakland, CA, 1976.
- (Author of poems for screenplay) Poetic Justice (screenplay), Columbia Pictures, 1993.
- (Author of lyrics, with Alistair Beaton) King, book by Lonne Elder, III, music by Richard Blackford, London, 1990.
FILM AND TELEVISION SCRIPTS
- Georgia, Georgia (screenplay), Independent-Cinerama, 1972.
- (And director) All Day Long (screenplay), American Film Institute, 1974.
- (Writer of script and musical score) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, CBS, 1979.
- Sister, Sister (television drama), National Broadcasting Co., Inc. (NBC-TV), 1982.
- (Writer of poetry) John Singleton, Poetic Justice (motion picture), Columbia Pictures, 1993.
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California, to journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., and Isabelle Moodie. His mother was of Scottish descent, and his father descended from Nicholas Frost of Tiverton, Devon, England, who had sailed to New Hampshire in 1634 on the Wolfrana.
Frost's father was a teacher and later an editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin which later merged with the San Francisco Examiner, and an unsuccessful candidate for city tax collector. After his death on May 5, 1885, the family moved across the country to Lawrence, Massachusetts, under the patronage of his grandfather William Frost, Sr., who was an overseer at a New England mill. Frost graduated from Lawrence High School in 1892.
Although known for his later association with rural life, Frost grew up in the city, and he published his first poem in his high school's magazine. He attended Dartmouth College for two months, long enough to be accepted into the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. Frost returned home to teach and to work at various jobs including helping his mother teach her class of unruly boys, delivering newspapers, and working in a factory as an arclight carbon filament changer. He did not enjoy these jobs, feeling his true calling was poetry.
His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. One of the most popular and critically respected American poets of the twentieth century, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medallion 1960 for his poetical works.
In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White, whom he'd shared valedictorian honors with in high school and who was a major inspiration for his poetry until her death in 1938. The couple moved to England in 1912, after they tried and failed at farming in New Hampshire. It was abroad that Frost met and was influenced by such contemporary British poets as Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Graves. While in England, Frost also established a friendship with the poet Ezra Pound, who helped to promote and publish his work.
Robert Frost delivered a poem at President John F. Kennedy inauguration who said about Frost that, "He has bequeathed his nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding." Robert Frost lived and taught for many years in Massachusetts and Vermont, and died in Boston on January 29, 1963.
Major Works:
- In the Clearing (Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1962) Hard Not to Be King (House of Books, 1951)
- Steeple Bush (Henry Holt and Company, 1947)
- Masque of Reason (Henry Holt and Company, 1945)
- Come In, and Other Poems (Henry Holt and Company, 1943)
- A Witness Tree (Henry Holt and Company, 1942)
- A Further Range (Henry Holt and Company, 1936)
- From Snow to Snow (Henry Holt and Company, 1936)
- The Lone Striker (Knopf, 1933)
- The Lovely Shall Be Choosers (Random House, 1929)
- West-Running Brook (Henry Holt and Company, 1928)
- New Hampshire (Henry Holt and Company, 1923)
- Mountain Interval (Henry Holt and Company, 1916)
- North of Boston (Henry Holt and Company, 1914)
- A Boy's Will (Henry Holt and Company, 1913)
Rise with the hour for which you were made.
"The heart of the woman falls back with the night and enters some alien cage in its plight, and tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars, while it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars".
Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson was born September 10, 1880 was an American poet and a member of the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson was born in Atlanta to Laura Douglas and George Camp (her mother's last name is listed in other sources as Jackson). Her mother was of African and Native American descent, and her father was of African-American and English heritage.Much of Johnson's childhood was spent in Rome, Georgia. She received her education in both Rome and Atlanta, where she excelled in reading, recitations and physical education. She also taught herself to play the violin, which developed into a lifelong love of music.
Johnson graduated from Atlanta University's Normal School 1896. She taught school in Marietta, Georgia for a time, then returned to Atlanta to work as an assistant principal. Johnson then traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to study piano, harmony, and voice. From 1902 to 1903, she attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. On September 28, 1903, Johnson married Henry Lincoln Johnson, an Atlanta lawyer and prominent Republican party member. They had two sons, Henry Lincoln Johnson, Jr. and Peter Douglas Johnson
Johnson's husband accepted an appointment as the Recorder of Deeds from United States President William Howard Taft, and the family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1910. It was during this period that Johnson began to write poems and stories. Johnson credits a poem written by William Stanley Braithwaite about a rose tended by a child, as her inspiration for her poems.
She began to submit poems to newspapers and small magazines. She published her first poem in 1916 when she was thirty-six. She published four volumes of poetry, beginning in 1918 with The Heart of a Woman. Johnson also wrote songs, taught music, and performed as an organist at her Congregational church.
There Johnson lived for the last fifty years of her life. Johnson's husband died in 1925. She struggled at first with some temporary jobs. As a gesture of appreciation for her husband's loyalty and service to the Republican party, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Johnson as the Commissioner of Conciliation in the Department of Labor.
Soon after her husband's death, Johnson began to host what became forty years of weekly "Saturday Salons", for friends and authors, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Anne Spencer,Richard Bruce Nugent, Alain Locke, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Angelina Weld Grimke and Eulalie Spence all major contributors to the New Negro Movement, which is better known today as the Harlem Renaissance. She was especially close to the writer Angelina Grimke. Johnson called her home the "Half Way House" for friends traveling, and a place where they "could freely discuss politics and personal opinions.
She died in Washington, D.C. on May 14th 1966. Thus, many of works were destroyed and never published
Johnson is inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame.
Major Works:
- The Heart of a Woman (1916)
- Bronze (1922)
- An Autumn Love Cycle (1928)
- A Sunday Morning in the South (1925)
- Share My World (1962)
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