Internationally acclaimed author Toni Morrison, whose prose spoke to the pain and resiliency in the African American experience, has died, her family and her publisher announced Tuesday.
She was 88.
Morrison died Monday night at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, publisher Penguin Random House said in a statement.
She was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature, the first African American woman to be so honored. Judges hailed her as one “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”
She was also bestowed America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2012.
Her novels included “Beloved,” “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula,” “Song of Solomon,” “Tar Baby,” “Jazz,” “Paradise,” “Gold Help the Child,” “Home,” “A Mercy” and “Love.”
“Morrison’s novels were celebrated and embraced by booksellers, critics, educators, readers and librarians,” the publisher said. “Her work also ignited controversy, notably in school districts that tried to ban her books. Few American writers won more awards for their books and writing.”
In a statement released by Princeton University, where she taught, the author’s family called her “our adored mother and grandmother.”
“She was an extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt who reveled in being with her family and friends,” the statement said.
“The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing. Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life.”
Writer and television producer Shonda Rhimes said Tuesday that Morrison was her inspiration.
“She made me understand `writer’ was a fine profession. I grew up wanting to be only her,” Rhimes tweeted, minutes after Morrison’s passing was announced. “Dinner with her was a night I will never forget. Rest, Queen.”
When awarding her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, then-President Barack Obama said, “Toni Morrison’s prose brings us that kind of moral and emotional intensity that few writers ever attempt.”
“She believes that language ‘arcs toward the place where meaning might lie.’ The rest of us are lucky to be following along for the ride,” Obama said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
