Maya

 Maya Angelou was an American poet writer, teacher actor, activist and public speaker. She had an estimated worth of $10 million at the time of her demise in 2014. Author of 36 books, Angelou is probably most popular for her 1969 autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which was quickly an international bestseller and is still standard reading material in many high schools.Early in life, Maya marched with and was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. During her career she was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts, three Grammys along with numerous other awards. Additionally, she was famously featured in her poem "On The Pulse of Morning" at Bill Clinton's Presidential Inauguration in 1993.As an actress, Angelou appeared in "Roots" (1977), "Poetic Justice" (1993), "How to Create an American Quilt" (1995) and "Madea's Family Reunion" (2006), and was awarded a Tony nomination for Best featured Actress in a Play for her performance in "Look Away" in 1973. Unfortunately, Maya passed away in May 2014, aged 86. When Angelou's agent announced her passing, he explained that she had recently been fragile and had spent time in a hospital recovering from a mystery illness.