My Journey with Maya

April 20, 2015
This salute to the legendary Maya Angelou by PBS talk host Smiley is occasionally over-adoring, but it's totally respectful of the special achievements of the recently deceased cultural icon of black arts and history. A friendship between Angelou and the 21-year-old Smiley began with a chance meeting in Los Angeles when he was a junior mayor for former Mayor Tom Bradley in 1986. The meeting was the beginning of a decades-long close bond; Smiley made a triumphant trip to Ghana in Angelou's company and later accompanied her to events and dinners. Drawing from private chats, interviews, memories, and portions of Angelou's books, Smiley, with the help of ghostwriting maven Ritz, stuffs the tribute with mostly familiar material plus a few surprises about the author's personal life and career, including his combative time at BET. Smiley can do a heck of an impression of Angelou's warm, heartfelt voice when she speaks of black mythic figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Richard Pryor. For Angelou admirers and those intrigued by black American culture, Smiley's glowing praise-song is a wonderful reminder of what Angelou's singular, exceptional presence meant to her community and the nation.

March 1, 2015
Veteran talk show host Smiley (Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Final Year, 2014, etc.) chronicles his relationship with Maya Angelou (1928-2014), his intellectual and spiritual guide.The author recounts how, as an eager and insecure young man, he was in awe of the multitalented woman who "dispens[ed] love with such natural and joyful ease...[it] drew people to her." Dr. Angelou gently scolded Smiley for his "idolatrous attitude," yet he writes about her with such fascination and awe it approaches hagiography. The woman he came to call "Mother Maya" (she affectionately called him "young Tavis Smiley") was his Buddha: a teacher, a wise elder, and a gentle corrector of his behavior, thoughts, and perspective. He remained a student at her feet, though some readers might regard him as overly fawning. Smiley wisely shapes what he learned from Angelou in the form of conversations they had over decades. The resulting narrative, comprised of Angelou's words as speeches, stories, and lectures, appropriately keeps the focus on the woman and her teachings rather than Smiley's own (impressive) credentials. To his credit, he shares Angelou's criticism of his BET interview show-that he's very prepared and informed but also too eager to speak and not a good listener. Here, Smiley proves to be a faithful recorder of Angelou's poise, compassion, and dignity. Throughout, he illustrates how Angelou regularly combined practicality and spirituality. "Her practical advice-be assertive, not aggressive," writes the author. "Her spiritual advice-be yourself." Readers might feel regret for not having the privilege of meeting Angelou personally, but Smiley has faithfully re-created both her voice's "haunting beauty and lilting musicality" and the experience of receiving her transformative wisdom, humor, and compassion.