"I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they're stones that don't matter. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good."
—Maya Angelou

The next time you think up an excuse for not completing a task or project, think of Maya Angelou. The next time you tell yourself that some wrong committed against you just wasn't fair, think of Maya Angelou. Or when the world seems too complex or overwhelming—when you're sure you can't make it through another day—think of Maya Angelou.

She was 86 years old when she died in May, and she lived every day of her life without an excuse—knowing life wasn't going to be fair to her. It never overwhelmed her, even when she was the victim of child-rape.

She was an African-American author/poet/journalist, actor, dancer, playwright, English professor, a civil rights advocate, a prostitute, and even a streetcar conductor in San Francisco, who was born into poverty and who never saw a wall she couldn't climb over, walk around, or run right through.

She wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a book everyone should read, if for nothing more than its insight into a life white people, especially white men, cannot fathom. I know, I know, you've read it . . . No. You. Haven't. You just tell people you have in order to sound hip and cool. You're never going to be hip and cool, but at least if you read the book, you'll have a vague idea as to what hip and cool looks like from a distance. If you do read this book, I know you'll want to read the next six autobiographies Maya Angelou wrote. Still, you won't be hip and cool.

Maya Angelou's life was extraordinary, and her death proved to be a great value to both Dianagram and Headless Horseman, who each received eight points: five for the hit and another three for the duet.

"For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again."
—"On the Pulse of Morning"

--Bill Schenley