Famed author and poet Maya Angelou will be remembered at a closed service for family and friends Saturday that will be livestreamed by Wake Forest University, her family said Monday.
Angelou, who won the Medal of Freedom and wrote “I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings,” died last week at age 86.
Her family posted a message Monday morning on Angelou’s Facebook page:
“The Maya Angelou Family continues to extend our gratitude to all of you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Due to limited seating capacity, we have decided to have a closed service for family and friends. Wake Forest University will livestream the service on June 7th at 10 a.m. EST. Please check Facebook and Twitter on June 6th, and we will post the link…. Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.”
Her only son, Guy Johnson, initially posted the news of her death on her Facebook page last week. She died quietly in her home, he said.
Angelou spoke with The Washington Times’ sister publication AmericanCurrentSee earlier in May. Click here to read that interview, one of her last ones.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive interview: Maya Angelou from earlier this month
“Like so many others, Michelle and I will always cherish the time we were privileged to spend with Maya,” President Obama said. “With a kind word and a strong embrace, she had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children; that we all have something to offer. And while Maya’s day may be done, we take comfort in knowing that her song will continue, ’flung up to heaven’ — and we celebrate the dawn that Maya Angelou helped bring.”
• Maria Stainer can be reached at mstainer@washingtontimes.com.
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