The American novelist, essayist, editor, teacher and professor has died: she passed away age 88 in a New York hospital last night. Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1998. Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was born 18 February 1931, and has for the last 5 decades chronicled African American lives through her prize winning fiction.
Her family put out a statement about their “adored mother and grandmother”, saying “Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life. While we would like to thank everyone who knew and loved her, personally or through her work, for their support at this difficult time, we ask for privacy as we mourn this loss to our family. We will share information in the near future about how we will celebrate Toni’s incredible life.”
The nobel- prize winner published 11 novels and several books of non-fiction, short stories, children’s books, a number couple plays and an opera libretto. She is was best known for her debut novel, The Bluest Eye, 1977’s Song of Solomon and 1987’s Beloved, considered her all-time masterpiece and for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1993, the World-renowned writer became the first black woman ever to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Morrison is survived by son Harold Ford Morrison. She lost her son Slade.
