Dr. Maya Angelou died today. She was 86.
I was fortunate to see her live and in-person two times. Both talks were at the College of St. Catherine and their Women of Substance lecture series in St. Paul, Minnesota. My notes from the first talk at 7pm on May 7th, 2005, discussed how it was a warm night, there was a huge crowd, and that Maya talked for over an hour. I attended the talk with the evil twin and two friends (one of which brought her child and breastfed throughout the whole thing) and then we got Vietnamese takeout. Apparently I took a photo, despite the no-photo rule (that’s me, always the rebel. Sadly, no idea where the photo is now) and was harassed by the other friend for taking the photo. The May 12th, 2007 3pm talk was a rehash of the 2005 talk, but apparently I was just as impressed as I wrote in my notes that she had everyone laughing, she sang, and recited poetry. She was a lady who knew how to work a crowd! I attended this one alone and I made a note that I once again took photos (no idea where they are). What I recall after all these years later is how she had such a huge presence on stage, how tall she was, how funny she was, her deep voice, and how she laughed.
Since her death, the internet has been full of Maya quotes, words of praise, and the various stories about her life. These are the Maya quotes that I like the best:
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
“Don’t Trust People Who Don’t Laugh.”
(Quotes from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/28/maya-angelou-in-fifteen-quotes , http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/maya-angelous-wisdom-distilled-10-best-quotes/story?id=23895284 , http://time.com/123168/maya-angelou-inspirational-quotes-advice/)
