Oprah Winfrey delivers moving tribute for late friend Toni Morrison in NYC celebration of life following author’s death as 88 this past summer
- Award-winning novelist died August 8 in New York
- Winfrey, 65, was among the major names who took the podium at the Manhattan religious institution
- Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jesmyn Ward also spoke at function
- Winfrey recalled how her first time meeting the author ‘remains one of the great thrills of my life’
- She quoted Morrison’s Song of Solomon to wrap up speech
- Morrison won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her novel Beloved
- In 1993, she became the first black woman to ever be awarded the Nobel literature prize
- In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Oprah Winfrey paid memorial to her late friend Toni Morrison on Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, following the award-winning novelist’s death this past August at 88.
Winfrey, 65, was among the major names who took the podium at the Manhattan religious institution in the ceremony that lasted just more than an hour-and-a-half.
Others who paid homage to the late novelist included author Fran Lebowitz, activist Angela Davis, author Ta-Nehisi Coates and novelist Jesmyn Ward.
Saying goodbye: Oprah Winfrey, 65, paid memorial to her late friend Toni Morrison on Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, following the award-winning novelist’s death this past August at 88
The celebration also included musical interludes such as sax player David Murray’s solo and Andy Bey’s rendition of Someone to Watch Over Me.
The talk show personality spoke to the gathering at the church about how she first encountered Morrison at a bash held by late literary icon Maya Angelou.
‘That day remains one of the great thrills of my life,’ Winfrey said, according to Vulture, later sharing a detail of one of her memorable exchanges with the brilliant writer.
‘While she’s no longer on this earth, her magnificent soul, her boundless imagination, her fierce passion, her gallantry,’ Winfrey said. ‘She told me once, “I’ve always known I was gallant.” Who says that? Who even knows they are gallant? Well, her gallantry remains always to help us navigate our way through.’
Well-remembered: Morrison, seen in 2006 in Paris, died this past August 5 as result of pneumonia complications
Icons: Others who paid homage to the late novelist included activist Angela Davis and author Fran Lebowitz
Throwback: Winfrey first encountered Morrison at a bash held by late literary icon Maya Angelou
Passionate: Winfrey shared one of her memorable exchanges with the brilliant writer
Sweet sounds: The celebration also included musical interludes such as sax player David Murray’s solo
The billionaire media mogul wrapped up her speech to a rousing ovation in quoting a passage that she said ‘never fails to inspire awe from’ her, from Morrison’s Song of Solomon.
She added: ‘For that, and so much else, I say thank you to the singular, monumental, gallant writer.’
Morrison died this past August 5 as result of pneumonia complications. In a career that spanned more than 60 years, she wrote 11 novels feted for their insight into black culture. Beloved won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and in 1993, she became the first black woman to ever receive the Nobel literature prize.
In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Legacy: A mourner read a program in memory of Morrison, who had won Nobel and Pulitzer prizes
Feted: Crowds amassed outside of the New York City church for the tribute to the literary icon