Women to Admire, Part 3: Toni Morrison, Nobel prize winner

Toni Morrison.

These days you can barely get through high school without reading one of her books. Movies are made about her stories. Four of her books have been part of Oprah's book club. But how many of us have seen her on TV? The books continue to grow, kids continue to read. Do you know the names of even one book? Of two books?

Did you know that in 2001 she was named one of the most powerful women in the USA by Ladies Home Journal? Do you know that your children are reading her stories? Who is Toni Morrison?

One of the most acclaimed women of our time, who is also an African/American. But, if that photo of her was NOT part of this hub..could you have seen her face in your mind? Did you know what she looks like? Why isn't her image as 'famous' and well known as Oprah's? Or Maya Angelou's? Tyra Banks'? And recently, Michelle Obama?

Morrison is one of the most acclaimed authors in all of the USA's history, male, female, regardless of 'color'... how many of USA's writers have won the NOBEL prize....that is truly the BIGGIE of acclaim for one's work. (So, I looked it up on Wikipedia...Pearl S. Buck, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck are the other USA writers to have won.)

For more than 25 years, she's one of the most acclaimed women, of any race, in the USA. But she's still such a secret to many of us.

Okay, Okay...her books. One of the most famous is Beloved from 1988. Not only did it win the Pulitzer Prize, but Oprah made it into a movie. The movie was not a huge success. I personally think this is due to the 'horror' of the story. Horrendous to imagine --it is a story of slavery and endurance-- that the movie was NOT widely seen. (Rather like "Sophie's Choice" some tales just so difficult!)The New York Times Book Review named Beloved the best American novel published in the previous twenty five years.

It was an earlier novel, Song of Solomon, that brought her nation-wide critical attention. The Bluest Eye is a gripping tale that many schools include in their required reading lists.

While these three do not make up her entire writings, they are the three that I've personally read. Morrison has a new novel coming out later in 2008, A Mercy. I'm certain this will definitely be a must-read for me.

Although I've -- duh -- never had the opportunity to ask Ms. Morrison about her privacy. I've wondered if, like another adored author, Harper Lee, if she treasures the sanity and 'normalcy' that she and her family have found by studiously staying away from the headlines. Writers are fortunate in that way...as a group, they're fairly anonymous. (For those of you who need a reminder, Harper Lee wrote "To Kill A Mockingbird." The publicity that crashed around her, her family and her hometown due to the unbelievably popular film made from her book is one reason we've never had another book from her. Although she has written one and it's planned to be published posthumously...now THAT's protecting one's privacy!)

If you haven't read one of Morrison's novels. Don't let another year slip by without having this great writer's words pour into your brain. With the first sentences of Beloved, my breath was caught in my throat and I knew I was in for a powerful, mystical reading experience. She doesn't gain international acclaim for nothing! Become a fan!