The first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer prize winner for penning Beloved and a mentor to millions, among many other things, Toni Morrison lived unapologetically but with unmatched empathy, intelligence and insightfulness. She famously told Terry Gross (of NPR’s Fresh Air) that she “regret[s] everything” about her life. She explained in a 2015 interview, “Now that I’m 84, I remember everything as a mistake, and I regret everything. It’s not profound regret. It’s just a wiping-up of tiny, little messes that you didn’t recognize as a mess when they were going on.” If nothing else, Morrison’s readings are life lessons in their own right: beautiful balancing acts of life’s light and darkness. The world mourns her passing. Read, or listen to, the full 2015 interview at NPR.
Reflecting on Toni Morrison’s Life, From Her Point of View
