US author, Toni Morrison died at the age of 88 due to a short illness at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York.
Her first novel, The Bluest Eye was published in 1970. She wrote 11 novels altogether. Toni Morrison won Novel prize for Literature in 1993.
Toni Morrison’s work included,
The Bluest Eye, 1970
Sula, 1973
Song of Solomon, 1977
Tar Baby, 1981
Beloved, 1987
Jazz, 1992
Paradise, 1997
Love, 2003
A Mercy, 2008
Home, 2012
God Help the Child, 2015
The Swedish Academy described her as a Novelist, “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality” when she won Nobel Prize in Literature.
Her Novel ‘Beloved’ was about an African-American salve who ran away from slavery during Civil War. Her Book was made into Movie starring Oprah Winfrey in 1988, a year after the book was published.
The Morrison family statement said the “extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt” had “passed away peacefully last night [5 August] surrounded by 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,” it continued.
“Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life.”
Her long-time editor, Robert Gottlieb from Knopf publishers, said: “She was a great woman and a great writer, and I don’t know which I will miss more.”
Toni Morrison was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2012.
She was also the first African-American editor at Random House from 1967 to 1983.
Many had given their condolences including,
Activist and Former tennis champion Billie Jean King, a shared a tribute tweet,
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
