Famed poet, author and activist Maya Angelou, perhaps best known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, has passed away at the age of 86.
Updated: May 29, 2014, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Maya Angelou through the years
Maya Angelou died in 2014 aged 86.
Media mogul Russell Simmons escorts poet Maya Angelou to her seat at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial on the National Mall in Washington on November 13, 2006 file photo. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
US President Bill Clinton, right, congratulates Dr Maya Angelou, left, after presenting her with the National Medal of Arts during ceremonies at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC on December 20, 2000. Stephen Jaffe / AFP
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, holds the hand of Dr Maya Angelou during a conversation in front of an audience at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC during a campaign stop on April 18, 2008. Robyn Beck / AFP
Coretta Scott King, left, widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and Maya Angelou speak to members of the media after visiting Betty Shabazz, the widow of slain civil rights activist Malcolm X, at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, NY on June 2, 1997. Jon Levy / AFP
Poet and activist Maya Angelou speaks before delegates during the second night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts on July 27, 2004. Gary Hershorn / Reuters
Oprah Winfrey, right, laughs with poet Maya Angelou during the taping of Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular in Chicago on May 17, 2011. John Gress / Reuters
Maya Angelou talks with reporters before giving a reading at the Abyssinian Development Corporation’s Tenth Annual Renaissance Day of Commitment Leadership Breakfast in Harlem, New York on June 15, 2004. Justin Lane / EPA
US president Barack Obama, centre, kisses Dr Maya Angelou, a prominent and celebrated author, poet, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, and civil rights activist after presenting to her the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, DC on February 15, 2011. Tim Sloan / AFP
Maya Angelou speaks during a ceremony to honour South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with the J William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding Award in Washington on November 21, 2008. Jim Young / Reuters