A Song Flung Up to Heaven

Drifting from gigs as a band singer in Hawaii, market researcher in Watts, and actress in an experimental theatre troupe in Los Angeles, she finally moves to New York, where she finds a place for herself amidst a lively group of black artists, writers, and musicians that includes James Baldwin, Paule Marshall, Rosa Guy, Abbey Lincoln, and Max Roach. But political activism calls to her once again, this time in the voice of Martin Luther King, who enlists her help in organizing his poor people's march on Washington.

After King, too, is assassinated, Maya goes into hibernation. But when a dinner party James Baldwin drags her to turns into an impromptu celebration of life and survival, she comes out of herself long enough to tell stories that are so inspiring that an editor at Random House is moved to call her about the possibility of writing an autobiography.

And so begins the writing of "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" -- the first line of which is the last line of "A Song Flung Up To Heaven." A rich depiction of "the quality in the human spirit that continues torise" even in the worst of circumstances, this book is a moving finale to the autobiography of one of the most beloved writers of our time.