'Beloved' Author Toni Morrison Dies at 88
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The great novelist and first black female author to receive the Nobel Prize, Toni Morrison, has died.
Morrison wrote a series of highly-praised novels about African-American life, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
It was her 1987 novel "Beloved," later taken to the big screen starring Oprah Winfrey, that landed Morrison the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
The work was inspires by the story of an American slave who made the choice to murder her baby to save the child from slavery.
Morrison wrote 11 novels, five children's books, plays and even an opera during her six decade career.
In 2012, Morrison received the highest award for a civilian in the United States when longtime fan and President Barack Obama draped her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"My grandfather bragged all the time that he read the bible, and it was illegal in his life to read," Morrison said in a previous interview. "Ultimately I knew that words have power."
A documentary on her life, "The Pieces I am," was released in June.
Morrison died at a New York hospital Monday night surrounded by family and friends. She was 88.