Toni Morrison, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author, Dies at 88
Toni Morrison, the American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Beloved,” passed away. She was 88 years old.
According to her publisher, Morrison died on August 5 at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. So far, the details of her death have not been reported.
Morrison’s most famous novel is “Beloved,” released in 1987 and taken to the big screen in 1998. The main stars of that film were Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.
Today we lost a giant. Sending our condolences to the family and loved ones of the literary genius #ToniMorrison 🙏🏿🙏🏿 || 📸 Todd Plitt/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/f0GsyHud2U
— BET (@BET) August 6, 2019
Apart from “Beloved,” the author also wrote important books reprising the experience of Black people, including “Sula,” “Song of Solomon,” and “The Bluest Eye,” which was her debut novel.
She was shining example to Black women everywhere. RIP Toni Morrison. 🙏🕊️ (📷: Getty) pic.twitter.com/3Zp95woB5t
— ESSENCE (@Essence) August 6, 2019
Due to her outstanding writing ability, Morrison quickly became a well-known author and started getting awards in the late 1970s.
The world needs voices like Toni Morrison’s today more than ever. Such a loss. https://t.co/S7RdmoMWwg
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 6, 2019
Some of the most recognized accolades she got were: a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction thanks to “Beloved” in 1988, a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) August 6, 2019
Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison has passed away aged 88. She was one of the most powerful and influential literary forces of our time.
Read more: https://t.co/m6oii2oJ3I pic.twitter.com/sfXEIw4VI2
Apart from her novels, Morrison also wrote three children’s book in collaboration with her son Slade: “The Big Box,” “The Book of Mean People,” and “Peeny Butter Fudge.” Slade passed away in 2010 after losing the battle with pancreatic cancer.
"I can accept the labels because being a Black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from. It doesn’t limit my imagination; it expands it." Rest in peace, Toni. https://t.co/Ll92IvlQkR
— them. (@them) August 6, 2019
The author worked as a teacher and professor emeritus at Princeton University where MacKenzie Bezos, Jeff Bezos’ former wife, was one of her most famous students.
Unfortunately, Morrison is not the only popular author who has died this year. Judith Kerr, the acclaimed illustrator and children’s author best known for “The Tiger Who Came to Tea,” died on May 22 at 95.
