Poet And Author Maya Angelou Dies At The Age of 86

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Renowned poet, author and activist Maya Angelou has passed away at the age of 86.

Born Maguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928, Angelou rose to fame when her memoir "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" was released in 1969 and rose to the top of the New York Times best seller list.  It told her story of rising up from the awful sexual assault she suffered at the age of seven at the hands of her mother's boyfriend.

Angelou was also a singer and dancer, and for a time edited a newspaper in the African country of Ghana.

She taught at several universities, although she never herself graduated from college. President Barack Obama bestowed the prestigious Medal of Freedom on her in 2011.

According to her literary agent, Helen Brann, she died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.