The Life of the Author

"On April 4, 1928, when Vivian Baxter Johnson gave birth to her second child and first daughter, she was still a happy woman. Facing a divorce was less terrifying than some other experiences Marguerite had undergone earlier in her life. Moving to The Purple Onion demanded hard work on Marguerite's part. She knew she was not an accomplished singer; she began lessons with a good teacher and then moved to Frederick Wilkerson, one of the area's best. She accepted the management's suggestion that she become "Maya Angelou," a Cuban native. She would never again be a plain United States African American woman; she would be geographically, and musically, different--perhaps even "exotic." Decades later, after she had made her mark on the literary world and was asked frequently for interviews, Angelou included her years spent with Vivian and Daddy Clidell when she spoke of the years of love she had been given as a child. Maya Angelou kept giving the lectures that made so many of her readers flock to her as a person, a speaker, a sentient and responsive human being. The invitations to come to a campus or other venue to speak had slowed appreciably, but she had learned to travel in her helpfully designed bus. She had learned to bring only trusted employees and friends with her on these travels; she had learned how to monitor her need for additional oxygen, for food that gave her stamina, for extra rest. She was husbanding what resources remained to her"--