biography of the day--maya angelou
Maya Angelou
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her first seventeen years. It brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book Award. She has been awarded over 30 honorary degrees and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the highest civilian honour in the U.S.
http://mije.org/features/womens-history-2012/maya-angelou
(this part of her biography I happened to learn watching michael feinstein on pbs a couple of weeks ago)
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Angelou has been married three times or more (something she has never clarified, "for fear of sounding frivolous"
.[8][28] In her third autobiography, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, Angelou describes her three-year marriage to Greek electrician, former sailor, and aspiring musician Enistasious (Tosh) Angelos in 1951, despite the condemnation of interracial relationships at the time and the disapproval of her mother.[29][30] She took modern dances classes during this time, and met dancers and choreographers Alvin Ailey and Ruth Beckford. Angelou and Ailey formed a dance team, calling themselves "Al and Rita", and performed Modern Dance at fraternal Black organizations throughout San Francisco, but never became successful.[31] She studied African dance with Trinidadian dancer Pearl Primus, and her new husband and son moved with her to New York City, but they returned to San Francisco a year later.[32]
After Angelou's marriage ended, she danced professionally in clubs around San Francisco, including the nightclub The Purple Onion, where she sang and danced calypso music.[33] Up to that point she went by the name of "Marguerite Johnson", or "Rita", but changed her professional name to, at the strong suggestion of her managers and supporters at The Purple Onion, "Maya Angelou", a "distinctive name"[34] that set her apart and captured the feel of her Calypso dance performances. During 1954 and 1955 Angelou toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess. She began her practice of trying to learn the language of every country she visited, and in a few years she gained proficiency in several languages.[35] In 1957, riding on the popularity of calypso,[36] Angelou recorded her first album, Miss Calypso,[31] which was reissued as a CD in 1996.[37] She appeared in an off-Broadway review that inspired the film Calypso Heat Wave, in which Angelou sang and performed her own compositions.[36][note 3]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou
