Toni Morrison's famous fans are mourning the iconic author's death.
Toni Morrison's famous fans are mourning the iconic author's death.
Morrison, winner of such prestigious awards as the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize in Literature, was best known for her bestselling 1987 novel Beloved, which was adapted into a film starring Oprah Winfrey in 1998. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced on Tuesday that Morrison had died on Monday, Aug. 5., in New York City after a brief illness. She was 88 years old.
A number of celebs have taken to social media to talk about the impact Morrison had, including former President of the United States Barack Obama, who shared a picture with her from when he presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
"Toni Morrison was a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page," Obama tweeted. "Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while."
Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes talked about the importance Morrison had on her career.
"She made me understand 'writer' was a fine profession," Rhimes tweeted. "I grew up wanting to be only her. Dinner with her was a night I will never forget. Rest, Queen."
She later tweeted a photo of Morrison with the quote "If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it."
Morrison was celebrated for chronically the Black American experience with her extraordinary novels. In an August 2017 article for Glamour, Meghan Markle listed the author as one of the 10 women who changed her life.
"In college, I took a class on the works of Toni Morrison," Markle shared at the time. "The first time I read The Bluest Eye, I thought, 'Wow! She creates this world for you that you get to feel a part of.'"
On Tuesday, Gabrielle Union tweeted, "Her words were like mirrors to our collective souls. Like pillows to cushion the blows. Like mothers to wrap us in love. Like friends to hold our hands and see us through the darkness. #RipToniMorrison ❤ you. May we lift her up in the light of goodness and hold her there."
Beyonce later posted a tribute to the renowned author on her website, writing: "Rest in Paradise."
Read on for more celeb reactions:
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