Toni Morrison, an African-American legend, who has left an indelible mark on the World literary, has died. She left us on Monday night, August 5, 2019, in New York. She was 88 years old.
Toni Morrison, whose work drew deeply from her life, experience, and memories as a Black in America has shared with the world her inspirations in books and novels such as “Song of Solomon”, "Beloved", “The Bluest Eye”, Sula" and many more.
Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio, on Feb. 18, 1931, the second of four children in a working-class, African-American family. It is said that her thirst for literary was fueled early on by her ceaseless interest in reading as a child. In 1949, she enrolled at the historically black Howard University and graduated in 1953 with a B.A. in English. In 1955, she earned a Master of Arts from Cornell University. In addition to her career as an editor, she taught at a number of institutions, including Princeton University.
Several personalities and famous peoples praised and payed tribute to the towering novelist on social media and in media networkk.
On Twitter, Former US President Barack Obama said:
"Toni Morrison was a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while."
Her long time friend and fan, Oprah Winfrey wrote, on Instagram:
"In the beginning was the Word. Toni Morrison took the word and turned it into a Song...of Solomon, of Sula, Beloved, Mercy, Paradise Love, and more," Winfrey wrote.
"She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truth-teller. She was a magician with language, who understood the Power of words. She used them to roil us, to wake us, to educate us and help us grapple with our deepest wounds and try to comprehend them."
During her lifetime, Toni Morrison received several honors and awards, including:
2016: PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction
2015: Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award
2012: Presidential Medal of Freedom
2004: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction for Love
2007: Glamour Lifetime Achievement Award
2005: Coretta Scott King Award for Authors for Remember: The Journey to School Integration
1996: Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
1996: Jefferson Lecture
1993 Nobel Prize in Literature
1989: Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service
1988: Helmerich Award
1988: Edward MacDowell Medal
1988: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction for Beloved
1988: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Beloved
1988: American Book Award for Beloved
1977: Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Song of Solomon:
1977: National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for Song of Solomon:
The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children
National Humanities Medal
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
