Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
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Small Bio:
Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven , three books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years.
"Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant." - Maya Angelou
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Interesting info:
1) Her actual birth name is Marguerite Johnson.
2) It was her grandmother and most prominently her brother Bailey who were the most influential figures in her early life and with whom she shared the closest bond.
3) Maya's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed her "Maya," meaning "my sister."
4) Marguerite had a short lived high school relationship which led to a pregnancy. Three weeks after completing school, at the age of 17, Marguerite gave birth to a son who she named Clyde.
5) From the age of 17 to 19, Angelou went through a variety of jobs and relationships to provide for her son. During this time, she pimped for a lesbian couple and became a prostitute herself for a short duration.
6) Beginning with her first autobiography Caged Bird, Maya Angelou followed the same writing ritual for years. She used to check into a hotel room after instructing the staff to remove all pictures from the walls. Then Angelou used to write on legal pads while lying on the bed with only a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget’s Thesaurus and the Bible.
7) She would write around ten to twelve pages by the afternoon and edited them down to three to four in the evening. Angelou said she went through this process to “enchant” herself to help her access her memories.
8) She mastered six other languages besides English, including French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and the West African language Fanti.
9) She once said that she wanted the following phrase carved on her tombstone: "I did my best, I hope you do the same."
1) Her actual birth name is Marguerite Johnson.
2) It was her grandmother and most prominently her brother Bailey who were the most influential figures in her early life and with whom she shared the closest bond.
3) Maya's older brother, Bailey Jr., nicknamed her "Maya," meaning "my sister."
4) Marguerite had a short lived high school relationship which led to a pregnancy. Three weeks after completing school, at the age of 17, Marguerite gave birth to a son who she named Clyde.
5) From the age of 17 to 19, Angelou went through a variety of jobs and relationships to provide for her son. During this time, she pimped for a lesbian couple and became a prostitute herself for a short duration.
6) Beginning with her first autobiography Caged Bird, Maya Angelou followed the same writing ritual for years. She used to check into a hotel room after instructing the staff to remove all pictures from the walls. Then Angelou used to write on legal pads while lying on the bed with only a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget’s Thesaurus and the Bible.
7) She would write around ten to twelve pages by the afternoon and edited them down to three to four in the evening. Angelou said she went through this process to “enchant” herself to help her access her memories.
8) She mastered six other languages besides English, including French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and the West African language Fanti.
9) She once said that she wanted the following phrase carved on her tombstone: "I did my best, I hope you do the same."
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