First Name Tom, Last Name Foolery… And I’m Everybody’s Uncle!

Especially this beloved laureate … Toni Morrison.

Toni Morrison, who chronicled the African American experience in fiction over five decades, has died aged 88.

In a statement on Tuesday, her family & publisher Knopf confirmed that the author died in Montefiore Medical Center in New York on Monday night after a short illness.

Describing her as “our adored mother & grandmother”, Morrison’s family said: “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 & 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.”

Born in an Ohio steel town in the depths of the Great Depression, Morrison carved out a literary home for the voices of African Americans, first as an acclaimed editor & then with novels such as The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon & Beloved. Over the course of a career that garnered honours including the Pulitzer prize, the Nobel prize, the Légion d’Honneur & a Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to her in 2012 by her friend Barack Obama, her work became part of the fabric of American life as it was woven into high school syllabuses up & down the country.

Climb on The Family Tree below & share your thoughts about My Niece Toni Morrison’s dying situation!

By: Richard Lea

Image(s): Getty

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