One of America's most famous and inspiring poets and writers, Maya Angelou, has died.

She died Tuesday, May 27th with her family by her side in a Winston-Salem, North Carolina hospital while recovering from an illness.

The famed author was to be honored this Friday with the Beacon of Life Award at Major League Baseball's Civil Rights Game when she fell ill and had to cancel.

Angelou has received more than 30 honorary degrees from universities around the world. She published 7 autobiographies, 3 books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou famously wrote.

In 1961, she moved to Ghana where she taught at the University of Ghana’s School of Music and Drama, worked as feature editor for The African Review and wrote for The Ghanaian Times.

During her years abroad, Dr. Angelou read and studied voraciously, mastering 5 different languages including French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and the West.

May her soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.