Maya Angelou was a great poet, and a widely-loved author of everything from essays and novels to autobiographical memoirs. And when she died last week — at the age of 86 — Amazon created a special tribute to her on the front page of the Kindle Store. They posted a picture of the author, a short blurb, and a link to her first memoir, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. But they also linked to a longer summary of her life on one of Amazon’s own literary blogs.
“Born Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis on April 4, 1928, Angelou experienced life fully and uniquely,” remembers Amazon’s post, “working as a young woman in strip clubs, on a cable car, as an actress, and as a journalist….” But it’s even more touching to read the comments that were left by readers. “Maya was one of many angels who has circulated love and goodness with her huge heart and wise mind… Thank you Maya for all that you gave and all that you left us.”
As news spread about the death of the poet, something wonderful happened on Amazon. Maya Angelou rose to the #1 spot on Amazon’s list of their most-popular authors. Released recently (and still labeled as “beta”), Amazon Author Rank shows the most popular author each hour, along with their most popular books. Sure enough, Maya’s #1 best-seller was “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
But readers were also buying The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, as well as The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (a massive 1184-page book that gathers together six different memoirs!) And it was touching to see that readers were also buying a special book by the author called Letter to My Daughter. “Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with meaning…”
All these books are available on the Kindle — and there’s another wonderful way to remember Maya Angelou. When you purchase their Kindle ebook versions, Amazon’s offering a special price on the audiobook versions of Letter to My Daughter and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which are both read by the author herself! You can hear Maya’s strong, thoughtful voice reading some of her most inspiring writing. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper,” Maya explains in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
“It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”