NEW YORK (AP) – Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, who transformed modern literature, has died.
Highlights of reaction to her death:
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“Toni Morrison was a national treasure. Her writing was not just beautiful but meaningful – a challenge to our conscience and a call to greater empathy. She was as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. And so even as Michelle and I mourn her loss and send our warmest sympathies to her family and friends, we know that her stories – that our stories – will always be with us, and with those who come after, and on and on, for all time.” – former President Barack Obama, via Twitter.
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“In the beginning was the Word. Toni Morrison took the word and turned it into a Song.of Solomon, of Sula, Beloved, Mercy, Paradise Love, and more. She was our conscience. Our seer. Our truth-teller. She was a magician with language, who understood the Power of words. She used them to roil us, to wake us, to educate us and help us grapple with our deepest wounds and try to comprehend them. It is exhilarating and life-enhancing every time I read and share her work.” – Oprah Winfrey, concluding on Instagram with: “She was Empress-Supreme among writers. Long may her WORDS reign!”
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“I’ve been privileged to know Toni Morrison for nearly 40 years. During that time, she won many awards and accolades – the Nobel, a Pulitzer, the Presidential Medal of Freedom…But for me, Toni has been a treasured collaborator, a monumental inspiration and, most importantly, a cherished friend. We will all miss her, but the gifts she left us – her written works that have transformed so many lives around the world – live on…to educate, empower and nourish us. For this and all she shared with us, I say thank you Toni. My deepest…
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