Posted on August 6, 2019 at 8:41 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Celebrated author Toni Morrison died Monday night at age eighty-eight.
Her death was first reported by Vulture, citing a source at her publisher, and confirmed in a statement issued by her family and publisher this morning:
Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life. While we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family.
Morrison is best known for Song of Solomon, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
She is also the first African-American woman to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and in 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented from President Barack Obama.
Morrison's incredible literary legacy was recently honored in a documentary called Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, which covered her work as a writer and book editor.
As news of her death spread, authors joined readers in mourning her loss.
"We have lost a great writer whose extraordinary novels leave an indelible imprint on the consciousness of all who read them," Alice Walker said.
"What a force her thoughts have been and how grateful we must be that they were offered to us in this extremely challenging age."
You can revisit her accomplishments in coverage from the Guardian and NPR.
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Categories: Today in Books