It has been confirmed by close family and friends that the famous novelist and author has passed away at Montefiore Medical Center Monday night in New York.
She was the first black woman to receive the Nobel literature prize in 1993. Her novel Beloved, where a mom, Margaret makes the horrific choice to murder her baby to keep it from the misery of slavery, won a Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1988. Oprah Winfrey played Margaret in the film.
Born as Chloe Anthony Wofford on Feb 8, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, Toni used her love of writing to express the black, female experience. She made the name change because she said people seemed to have a hard time pronouncing Chloe.
In 1970, she published her first book, ‘The Bluest Eye” in 1970, about a black girl who desired to be white with blue eyes. I remember hearing so many great things about this book coming up as a little girl. It was such a major buzz going around about this book back in the early 80’s. At this time, Toni had begun to unveil an ugly truth that a lot of people could relate to, however weren’t too comfortable digesting. She bridged the gap with her raw, untainted literature.
Over this past weekend, a film documenting the life and works of Toni Morrison was featured on August 2 as part of the Came Fire Film Series At the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
The screening of ” Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am”, set for August 12 at 7:30 p.m. , is a fundraiser for Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective, a nonprofit based out of Grand Coteau. This is a great opportunity to support the literary community while taking our children to see this film to learn about our wonderful and rich history. They need to see the treasures that have been laid up for them.
After all, Toni Morrison truly was a gem and can never replaced.
Rest peacefully Mother Morrison.
may her soul rest in peace. she was a great author.
Yess