Maya Angelou always had something to say–but it wasn’t always through spoken word. She stopped speaking as a small child for over a year after an incident with her mother’s boyfriend. The incident transformed her emotions into focused thought and she began writing down everything that inspired her, scared her and moved her. Her efforts resulted in the enormously successful 1969 memoir about her childhood and young adult years, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first non-fiction bestseller by an African-American woman. The poignant work also made Angelou an international star. Since publishing Caged Bird, Angelou has continued to break new ground—not just artistically, but educationally and socially. She wrote the drama Georgia, Georgia in 1972—becoming the first African-American woman to have her screenplay produced—and went on to earn a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away (1973) and an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the television miniseries Roots (1977), among other honors.

One of Angelou’s most famous works is the poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she wrote especially for and recited at President Bill Clinton’s inaugural ceremony in January 1993—marking the first inaugural recitation since 1961, when Robert Frost delivered his poem “The Gift Outright” at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Angelou went on to win a Grammy Award (best spoken word album) for the audio version of the poem.

In 1995, Angelou was lauded for remaining on The New York Times‘ paperback non-fiction bestseller list for two years—the longest-running record in the chart’s history.

Angelou was a good friend of TV personality Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey, organized several birthday celebrations for the award-winning author, including a week-long cruise for her 70th birthday in 1998.

After experiencing health issues for a number of years, Maya Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The news of her passing spread quickly on the national news and social media circuits. Singer Mary J. Blige and politician Cory Booker were among those who tweeted their favorite quotes by her in tribute. President Barack Obama also issued a statement about Angelou, calling her “a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.” Angelou “had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children; that we all have something to offer,” he wrote.

Some of our favorite words of wisdom from Maya Angelou include:

• “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”
•  “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
•  “When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”
• “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
•  “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”
• “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.”
• “If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?”
• “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
• “Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”
• “First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.”
• “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.”
• “Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.”
• “I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.”

By Katherine Sharma

Humor is an aphrodisiac — or at least women (and men) consistently tell surveys that “a sense of humor” is a top attraction in a romantic partner, even more important than looks, brains or wealth. So in crafting my next novel’s sexy hero, I should forget face and fortune and focus on funny? Really? I just don’t buy it, even though I’ve heard countless girlfriends declare the importance of a “sense of humor” in choosing “the one.” Let’s get something clear: Men and women mean something very different when they say they value a sense of humor in a potential mate. Women mean they want men who can amuse, while men mean they want women who think they are amusing. Women want a humor generator, and men want a humor appreciator, as one psychologist explained. Natural selection has put humor at the top of the sexual scale for women as an indicator of male “cognitive fitness,” opines another scientist, so men naturally use humor to compete for female attention. OK, so laughter and desire are linked. But which comes first? Is a gal enticed because he makes her giggle, or does she giggle because she’s already interested in him? It’s the latter, asserts comedian Gilbert Gottfried’s Playboy magazine article entitled “Women Say They Want a Guy With a Sense of Humor. They Don’t.” Concludes Gottfried: “If a woman is laughing at everything you say, she already plans to f– you. That’s all there is to it. Your jokes don’t have to be any good, because she’s not really listening. If she’s planning to f– you, she’ll laugh. And if she’s not, she won’t. End of story.” Humor is probably more important in sustaining rather than sparking romance anyway. Marriage researchers have found that when humor plays a role in diffusing tension and conflict, marriages tend to last longer, and that people who joke with their spouses tend to be happier in their marriages. For a more scientific and less profane discussion than Gottfried’s, read the Psychology Today article at http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200508/humors-sexual-side

ABOUT  KATHERINE SHARMA

Katherine Sharma’s family roots are in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. But after her early childhood in Texas, she has moved around the country and lived in seven other states, from Virginia to Hawaii. She currently resides in California with her husband and three children. She has also traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and Asia, and makes regular visits to family in India. After receiving her bachelor’s degree. in economics and her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Michigan, Katherine worked as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor for more than 15 years. She then shifted into management and marketing roles for firms in industries ranging from outdoor recreation to insurance to direct marketing. Although Katherine still works as a marketing consultant, she is now focused on creative writing.

HBO’s Game of Thrones might be the most popular show on television right now. Great storytelling, incredible sets and wardrobe and just the right chemistry between the actors. But what if the casting had been slightly different? Would the show be the same if Kit Harington (Jon Snow) had been cast as King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson)? If Harington had his say, he would gladly give up the role of Snow to play the evil King.

What other roles would the current cast wish they could play? Vanity Fair goes behind the scenes of this wildly successful series to ask the cast members this fun question. Watch their responses here:

A recent issue of Vanity Fair featured some of Hollywood’s freshest young faces. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave, American Gangster), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave), Brie Larson (21 Jump Street) and the rest of the stars on the Hollywood Issue cover answer the question, “How did you feel the first time you saw yourself on film?”

Watch the video below to see their reactions to seeing themselves on the silver screen:

As the mysterious world of Orphan Black widens, new layers of the conspiracy are peeled back. Season one introduced Sarah, (Golden Globe® nominee Tatiana Maslany, Parks and Recreation) whose life changed dramatically after witnessing the suicide of a woman who looked just like her. Sarah learned that, not only were she and the woman clones, but there were others just like them, and dangerous factions at work set on capturing them all. She forged an alliance with fellow clones Alison Hendrix and Cosima Niehaus – and together they’ve been fighting for their freedom and the safety of their loved ones.

Season two of BBC AMERICA’s dramatic conspiracy thriller, Orphan Black, hits the ground running with Sarah in a desperate race to find her missing daughter Kira (Skyler Wexler) – a wild pursuit that brings her head-to-head with ruthless pro-clone, Rachel (Maslany). This season also rejoins Sarah’s clone sisters Alison (Maslany) and Cosima (Maslany) as they struggle to keep their clone world a secret and pick up the pieces of their broken lives – all while dealing with the harsh reality that no one around them can be trusted.

From her breakout role on Orphan Black to a guest stint on Parks and Recreation, the Saskatchewan-born Tatiana Maslany may seem like a newcomer, but, as she told Krista Smith behind the scenes of her Vanities shoot, it’s been a long road to get here.

By Katherine Sharma

Along with readers across the nation, my book club is discussing The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel referencing the painting “The Goldfinch” by Carel Fabritius. The fictional tale has sparked new interest in the real painting, and I wonder what Fabritius would make of booming museum gift-store sales of tote bags featuring his trompe l’oeuil portrait of a little pet bird chained to its perch. Tartt’s novel follows the “Dickensian” journey of the protagonist from his boyhood survival of a terrorist explosion in a museum, which killed his mother and left him in secret possession of a famous painting. Like many, I pondered why Tartt chose “The Goldfinch” as the fictionally purloined artwork out of all the other candidates. The painting’s history certainly recommends it as a disaster survivor: It is one of the few surviving works of Fabritius, who was killed at just 32 in a massive gunpowder magazine explosion in 1654 Delft. Fabritius, a master of the 17th century Delft school along with Vermeer and de Hooch, has been praised for painterly illusion and originality, breaking from Rembrandt and Dutch conventions to favor light backgrounds, a cooler palette, delicate light effects and spatial illusion. The chained bird may or may not have symbolic significance: A goldfinch was not only a popular Dutch pet of the time but also a symbol in art for death, resurrection and the passion of Christ. For a good discussion of the work, see the Wall Street Journal article by art historian Mary Lewis. So I can think of many themes from the painting that make it an inspired choice: the trompe l’oeuil of fate and freedom; the soul tethered by a traumatic past, by guilt, by responsibility, by obsession; the fragility and transcendence of art; death and resurrection. The intersection of visual and literary arts can create unique epiphanies, both universal and personal. So, of course, this is not the first work of art to inspire a fictional work. Remember the popularity, if not the prize quality, of Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Chevalier’s Girl With a Pearl Earring? For some other examples, see http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jan/17/fine-art-fiction-donna-tartt-goldfinch

ABOUT  KATHERINE SHARMA

Katherine Sharma’s family roots are in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. But after her early childhood in Texas, she has moved around the country and lived in seven other states, from Virginia to Hawaii. She currently resides in California with her husband and three children. She has also traveled extensively in Europe, Africa and Asia, and makes regular visits to family in India. After receiving her bachelor’s degree. in economics and her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Michigan, Katherine worked as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor for more than 15 years. She then shifted into management and marketing roles for firms in industries ranging from outdoor recreation to insurance to direct marketing. Although Katherine still works as a marketing consultant, she is now focused on creative writing.

There’s no doubt about it, life as a teenager can be complicated. Growth spurts, body changes, voice quakes are all part of the norm—not to mention your ever-changing perception of yourself and how you “fit in” with your peers. Countless movies, television shows and books have been written about the struggles of the modern day teenager and it’s not always clear how to answer the question of “how do I survive???”

When Maya Van Wagenen was 14 years old, she dealt with pretty much the same challenges all young ladies of her age encounter. She wondered: How do I make friends? Why am I not popular? Why is it so hard to fit in at my middle school?

Her grandmother had been a social butterfly in Maya’s eyes. Constantly making new friends with the person in front of her at the grocery store line or with customer service representatives in India. So how come Maya was so shy and closed off with genetics like these? Surely it had to do with her looks right?

One day while in her father’s office, she discovered a dusty old book from the 1950s entitled, Betty Cornell’s Teen-Age Popularity Guide. Amused, Maya began reading the book. She soon realized how little has changed in the last 60 years. Sure, it provided insight on everything from wearing white pearls and girdles to the proper ways to fix one’s “figure problems,” however the book still spouted some very relevant advice:

“Being pretty and attractive does help you to be popular, but being pretty and attractive does not and never can guarantee that you will be popular. There is another factor, a very important factor, and that is personality. Personality is that indescribable something that sets you off as a person. It is hard to explain but easy to recognize.”

“If you want to be a human being, and a popular human being, then you have to stop being an oyster and come out of your shell.”

Every month, Van Wagenen would take a chapter or two from the book and apply the suggestions to her own life. From dieting, hair and makeup to attitude to posture, she vowed to apply these tips, no matter how embarrassing or complicated they might be.

Aside from her family, Van Wagenen didn’t tell anyone what she was up to. That would have taken the challenge out of it. It was through following Cornell’s vintage wisdom that Van Wagenen discovered herself and the inner self-confidence she needed to take on the scary halls of high school. By putting herself in sometimes painful, always hilarious situations, Van Wagenen learned that a little bit of old advice paired with a dash of bravery just might land you at the popular table.

When asked the most challenging part of the experiment, Van Wagenen told the National Post: “Skirts, girdles and pantyhose! . . .But really, the hardest part was putting myself out there and working on that internal change.”

She began chronicling her own experiences in high school using Cornell’s book as a reference. She learned to be a stellar hostess, practiced proper posture, and began styling her hair with rag curlers. She actively engaged in conversations with different social groups and took note of all of them.

She began compiling pages and pages of her social experiment and before long, she had enough to write her own book. The recently published, Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek is a daring 272 page tale of honest, funny, and thought-provoking account of her efforts to become ‘popular’. She tells about her experiences of engaging with every social clique in high school over the course of a school year by constantly eating at new lunch tables. Jocks, band kids, slackers and nerds all got to know this young girl and she in turn got to know them. Maya realizes throughout her journey that everyone is the same inside and the reason some are more popular than others is that they simply take the time to listen, learn and engage with each other.

Can popularity advice from more than half a century ago still be relevant? I’ll find out. Crazier things have happened, right? Men have walked on the moon and society has found a way to grow square watermelons.

Betty Cornell has become my new soul mate, and I am married to her every word. For better or worse.—Maya Van Wagenen from Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek