Guy Johnson, the son and only child of late poet Maya Angelou, has died at age 77.

Angelou’s official Facebook account confirmed that Johnson, also a poet, author, civil rights activist, and politician, died peacefully Wednesday morning at his home in Oakland.

“Mr. GUY JOHNSON passed away peacefully at his home this morning in Oakland, California. Arrangements will be made and announced in the coming days. We ask that you respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time. Thank you for your prayers and words of comfort and strength,” the post read.

In 2019, Johnson teamed with producers David Michael Rich, and J. Todd Harris (Heathers, Doctor Zhivago) on a one-woman Broadway show titled Phenomenal Woman: An Evening With Maya Angelou, based on Angelou’s life and work, theGrio reported.

According to a press release sent out at the time, the project promised to bring Angelou’s writings to live theater along with “some private musings that have never before been made public,” per The Hollywood Reporter.

Guy Johnson (Credit: YouTube screenshot)

“My mother lived an extraordinary life,” Johnson said in 2019, per the THR report. “She brought a sense of passion to living and invested herself wholly in it. What she wanted most was justice for all human beings, and the freedom to experience joy and laughter. We hope to capture her joie de vivre. We’re going to include some private anecdotes that will be a revelation to audiences. I’m pleased to be working with this team in bringing her story to life and can’t wait for the public to experience it.”

Most recently, Johnson played a significant role in choosing Angelou’s image for the U.S. quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program. The quarter depicts Angelou with her arms outstretched and uplifted; behind her is a bird in flight and a rising sun, per a Grio report. According to the Mint, the images are meant to symbolize the way she lived her life and are inspired by her poetry. 

“One of the reasons I chose that image is, first off, I know how difficult it is to capture the actual essence and animus of a human being on a metal coin, and I thought that picture with the bird behind her, the wings and her arms out gave some sense of the style that she had, the grace that she had,” Johnson said in an interview with KRON, My Fox 8 reports.

“She was a dancer for many years, and I really thought that was the best image of her,” he added.

In 2010, Angelou was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor in the U.S., by then-President Barack Obama. She died at her North Carolina home in 2014 at the age of 86.

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The post Maya Angelou’s son, Guy Johnson, dies at 77 appeared first on TheGrio.