Maya Angelou, writer and poet, dies at age 86. Learn more about Angelou’s life and works in this article. Award-winning author, renowned poet, civil rights activist and one of the most respected voices in America, Dr. Maya Angelou, has died. Maya Angelou Dies at 86. A statement from her family was posted on her Facebook page Wednesday morning: “Dr. Celebrated memoirist and poet Maya Angelou, 86, who was found dead Wednesday at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., was a high school dropout who became a professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. She is perhaps best known for her autobiographical work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou, a child of the Jim Crow South who rose to international prominence as a writer known for her frank chronicles of personal history and a performer instantly identified by her regal presence and rich, honeyed voice, died May 28 at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. She was 86. Maya Angelou, American poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. After her parents' marriage ended, she and her brother, Bailey (who gave her the name "Maya"), were sent to rural Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother, who owned a general store. She was 86. Maya Angelou passed quietly in her home before 8:00 a.m. EST. Maya Angelou, a novelist, actress and educator, died at age 86, her literary agent, Helen Brann, said Wednesday.