In 1973, Angelou married Paul du Feu, an English-born carpenter and remodeler, and moved with him and her son to
Sonoma, California. The years to follow were some of Angelou's most productive years as a writer and poet. She composed music for movies, wrote articles, short stories, and poetry for several magazines, continued to write autobiographies, produced plays, lectured at universities all over the country, and served on various committees. She earned an
Emmy nomination for a role in the television mini-series "
Roots" in 1977, wrote for television, and composed songs for
Roberta Flack. Her screenplay,
Georgia, Georgia, was the first original script by a black woman to be produced. It was during this time when Angelou met
Oprah Winfrey and became her mentor.
Angelou has used the same editor throughout her writing career,
Robert Loomis, an executive editor at
Random House, who has been called "one of publishing's hall of fame editors."
Angelou divorced de Feu in 1981 and returned to the South in 1981, where she accepted the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of
American Studies at
Wake Forest University in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1993, she recited her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President
Bill Clinton's inauguration, the first poet to do so since
Robert Frost at
John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. In 2006, Angelou became a radio talk show host for the first time, hosting a weekly show for
XM Satellite Radio's "Oprah & Friends" channel. In 2007, she became the first African-American woman and living poet to be featured in the
Poetry for Young People series of books from
Sterling Publishing.
Since the 1990s, Angelou has been a busy participant in the lecture circuit. In 1993, she was making about eighty speaking appearances a year, at a standard fee of $15,000. By the early 2000s, Angelou traveled to her speaking engagements and book tours stops by tour bus. She "gave up flying, unless it is really vital .. not because she was afraid, but because she was fed up with the hassle of celebrity." In 1998, Angelou went on her first cruise, given by her friend
Oprah Winfrey, in celebration of her 70th birthday. Over 150 people were in attendance.
In 2002, Angelou lent her name and writings to a line of products from the
Hallmark Greeting Card Company.
