Beloved author Toni Morrison, 88, has passed away.
Morrison’s family announced that she died surrounded by loved ones at Montefiore Medical Center in New York “following a short illness,” in a statement released by her publisher, Penguin Random House.
“She was an extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt who reveled in being with her family and friends. The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing,” her family added. “Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life.”
The Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning novelist, editor, teacher, and professor had a profound impact on American literature with her focus on African American culture and life. She is best known for her novels “Jazz,” “Paradise” and “Beloved” which earned her worldwide fame as the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1993. Five years later, her acclaimed novel was created into a film of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey and Donald Glover.
She was nearly 40-years-old when she published her first book and went on to write 11 novels, 9 non-fiction books, fives children’s books and even a few plays, essays, articles and more.
Morrison was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on May 29, 2012 at the White House and in 2016 she received the Pen/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction.
Shonda Rhimes remembered the legendary author with a tweet explaining how her career was impacted by Morrison.
She made me understand“writer” was a fine profession. I grew up wanting to be only her. Dinner with her was a night I will never forget. Rest, Queen. “Toni Morrison, seminal author who stirringly chronicled the Black American experience, dies” https://t.co/S6qxix5OCj
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) August 6, 2019
Billie Jean King, famed tennis trailblazer also shared her condolences noting, “May she rest in power.”
Toni Morrison was the first African-American woman to win a Nobel Prize. May she rest in power. #RememberHerName https://t.co/0Q6MX8MJF7
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) August 6, 2019