Last Updated on: 2nd July 2023, 10:08 am
Groundbreaking Feminist Author Bell Hooks Dies At 69
Bell Hooks, a renowned feminist writer, and critic, died at the age of 69, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
According to a press release from her niece Ebony Motely, Hooks was sick and surrounded by family and loved ones when she died.
Hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins in Hopkinsville, Ky., In 1952.
After attending separate schools as a child, Watkins graduated from Stanford University and received her masters degrees in English and a doctorate in literature from the universities of Wisconsin and California at Santa Cruz, according to the Herald-Leader.
Taking her great-grandmother’s name as a lowercase pseudonym, Hooks stated in an earlier interview that she chose the name to “emphasize the essence of the books, not who I am”.
In 1981, Hooks published her first book, “Am I Not a Woman? Black women and feminism. She wrote more than 40 books and essays on topics such as feminism, racism, culture, politics, gender roles, love, and spirituality.”
He returned to his native Kentucky in 2004 to teach at Berea College, and six years later the school opened the Bell Hooks Institute, which houses his collection of contemporary African American art, personal artifacts, and copies of his multi-published languages.
The Hooks Institute drew many visitors, including actress Emma Watson, philosopher Cornel West and suffragette Gloria Steinem, the Herald leader reported.
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In an interview, Hooks said he wanted his work to be known as ‘healing’.
“I want my work to be about healing,” he said.
“I’m a happy writer because practically every day of my life I get a letter, a phone call from someone who tells me how my work has changed their life.”
A celebration of the hook’s life will be announced at a later date, the Herald leader noted.