Maya Angelou’s memoirs and books of essays and poetry have sold millions of copies. Now, MAYA ANGELOU: A GLORIOUS CELEBRATION offers an unusual and irresistible look at her life and her myriad interests and accomplishments. Created by the people who know her best—her longtime friends Marcia Ann Gillespie and Richard A. Long, and her niece Rosa Johnson Butler—it is part tribute, part scrapbook, capturing Angelou at home, at work, and in the public eye.

In photographs, text, and ephemera, MAYA ANGELOU chronicles the writer’s childhood in Stamps, Arkansas; her brief-but-illustrious career on the New York stage; her appointment as the Northern Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Council; and more. There are behind-the-scenes glimpses of Angelou as a down-home regal diva who revels in cooking for a crowd that often includes celebrities like Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, or Quincy Jones along with relatives and old friends—and as the highly disciplined writer who begins her legendary writing process in a local hotel room at 5:30 a.m. armed with “yellow pad, Bible, bottle of sherry, a dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus and a deck of cards for solitaire.”

Readers who have come to know and love Maya Angelou will be surprised and delighted by this personal, illustrated portrait of the renowned poet, author, playwright, and humanitarian.

"From the publication of her celebrated memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, to her reading of her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration, Maya Angelou (ne Marguerite Johnson) has been an inspirational figure. In celebration of her 80th birthday (April 4, 2008), her friends Gillespie and Long, and her niece Butler, honor her life and accomplishments with a biographical tribute chock-full of photographs and snippets of Angelou's own writings. The authors trace her life from the self-imposed silence after her rape at eight through her voracious reading and the stream of words that began when she was 14 at the coaxing of an adult friend. After marrying Tosh Angelos, and bearing her son, Clyde, she ventured successfully into acting (when she changed her name to Maya Angelou) and activism alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but always harbored the desire to write. As this book makes abundantly clear, Angelou's friends view her as a woman whose arms and home are always open and a loyal friend who respects others and loves good food and roaring laughter." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Beautifully designed and featuring more than 150 sepia portraits, family photographs, and letters from the life of one of the world's most beloved and admired artists, this moving biography will appeal to all fans of the poet laureate and phenomenal bestselling author.

Marcia Ann Gillespie, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. LongBeloved poet, playwright, and humanitarian Maya Angelou is celebrated by her most intimate circle of friends, in this richly illustrated celebration of her life. With a Foreword by Oprah Winfrey.

Beautifully designed and featuring over 150 sepia portraits, family photographs, and letters from the life of one of the world’s most beloved and admired artists, this moving biography will appeal to all fans of the poet laureate, phenomenal bestselling author, and scribe for the people, Dr. Maya Angelou.

Maya Angelou’s memoirs, essay and poetry collections, and cookbooks have sold millions of copies. Now, MAYA ANGELOU: A GLORIOUS CELEBRATION offers an unusual and irresistible look at her life and her myriad interests and accomplishments. Created by the people who know her best—her longtime friends Marcia Ann Gillespie and Richard Long, and her niece Rosa Johnson Butler—it is part tribute, part scrapbook, capturing Angelou at home, at work, and in the public eye. Readers who have come to know and love Maya Angelou will be surprised and delighted by this personal, illustrated portrait of the renowned poet, author, playwright, and humanitarian.