And we went down and we made dinner for Maya. She said you are not a better cook.Īnd I took my friend Joanne Gabbin, who is the director of Furious Flower Poetry Center here in James Madison. And I said to her, you know, you're better known and all of those things but I'm a better cook, Maya. Chris or one of her people fix lunch, but she would say, you know, a little salt - they'd have to bring things to her. And I would go down, and she would have her people she directed because she had a breathing problem. And as - you know, Maya moved here - and I'm saying here because it's the south - to Winston-Salem - and that's only a three-hour drive, two and a half if I was in a hurry. And she and I had - we're not competitors in terms of poetry, but we were competitors in terms of food. When you think of her, what's the first thing you think of? I mean, the fact that people think of, like, the fact that she was the first African-American woman member of the Director's Guild, right? The fact that she went overseas as a performer. She did not speak for much of her childhood after she was molested and after the perpetrator was killed and then became this amazing artist. I mean, she - what she's written about, I mean - born in 1928 St. MARTIN: You know, speaking of which, she has such an amazing story. I've had to laugh recently that - and a couple of hours ago, I said I don't know anybody - and I really don't - who has gotten as much out of life as Maya Angelou. Many a lesser person, you know, considering her health - it's not her age but her health - would've given up. And you know, we've known it's only been her phenomenal will - speaking of phenomenal - that has kept her active. I must say in all sadness, Maya's passing is not a shock. NIKKI GIOVANNI: Oh, thank you and thank you for inviting me. I'm sorry that it's under such sad, sad circumstances today. And she was a friend of Maya Angelou's for more than 40 years. She's a celebrated author and poet in her own right. MARTIN: With us to share more about Maya Angelou's remarkable life and legacy is Nikki Giovanni. I say, it's in the reach of my arms, the span of my hips, the stride of my step, the curl of my lips. When I start to tell them, they think I'm telling lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model size. MAYA ANGELOU: (Reading) Many people wonder where my secret lies. Here is a clip of her reading part of one of her most beloved poems "Phenomenal Woman." We'd like to pay tribute now to the legendary author and poet Maya Angelou.
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