Maya Angelou, the groundbreaking poet and author who wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is dead at 86.
According to reports, a caretaker found her dead at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Wednesday morning.
A hearse with a police escort pulled away from her home about 9am Wednesday.
Angelou had been struggling with health problems in recent weeks and had recently canceled a May 30 appearance at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon in Houston, where she was to be honored with the ‘Beacon Life Award.’