Author and poet Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86

Los Angeles - Award-winning author, renowned poet and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou has died.
Reports indicate that a caretaker found the 86-year-old dead at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday morning.

According to Dr. Angelou, who received more than 30 honorary degrees in here lifetime from universities around the world, was recovering from an “unexpected ailment” when she passed away.

Angelou was set to be honoured with the Beacon of Life Award at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon on 30 May in Houston. She has been celebrated as one of the greatest writers of her generation, bringing light to the struggles of women and African Americans.

She was the first African American woman to be honoured with a Pulitzer Prize and had received countless other accolades for her work since that time. She gained acclaim for her first book, her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, was one of the first public figures to react to the news of Angelou's death. She tweeted; "If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. Maya Angelou - who was utterly amazing."

"If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be." Maya Angelou - who was utterly amazing.