Who is Maya Angelou

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

by: Maya Angelou

Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 12/25/2009)

For the first time, the complete collection of Maya Angelou's published poems-including "On the Pulse of Morning"-in a permanent collectible, handsome hardcover edition.

ABC News Classics Maya Angelou

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/25/2009)

DVD

Celebrated poet/writer/actress/performer Maya Angelou talks to ABC News about how she used her own life experiences to become an award-winning literary figure and most read black female writer in the world. Maya Angelou grew up in Stamps, Arkansas, living with her grandmother, uncle and brother in the back of their family-owned store. Angelou discusses how during a trip to St. Louis to visit her mother she was raped which led to her to become mute for several years, and how she is still haunted by the abuse.

Anchor: Greg Jackson

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes

by: Maya Angelou

Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 12/25/2009)

Throughout Maya Angelou's life, from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, to her world travels as a bestselling writer, good food has played a central role. Preparing and enjoying homemade meals provides a sense of purpose and calm, accomplishment and connection. Now in Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, Angelou shares memories pithy and poignant - and the recipes that helped to make them both indelible and irreplaceable.

Angelou tells us about the time she was expelled from school for being afraid to speak - and her mother baked a delicious maple cake to brighten her spirits. She gives us her recipe for short ribs along with a story about a job she had as a cook at a Creole restaurant (never mind that she didn't know how to cook and had no idea what Creole food might entail). There was the time in London when she attended a wretched dinner party full of wretched people; but all wasn't lost - she did experience her initial taste of a savory onion tart. She recounts her very first night in her new home in Sonoma, California, when she invited M. F. K. Fisher over for cassoulet, and the evening Deca Mitford roasted a chicken when she was beyond tipsy - and created Chicken Drunkard Style. And then there was the hearty brunch Angelou made for a homesick Southerner, a meal that earned her both a job offer and a prophetic compliment: "If you can write half as good as you can cook, you are going to be famous."