Angelou Alive, Well, Despite Reports

TMZ reports poet's illness, Twitterers add 'RIP'
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 5, 2009 1:24 AM CDT
Angelou Alive, Well, Despite Reports
Author Maya Angelou delivers a tribute to South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in Washington last year.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Contrary to reports by TMZ and scores of Tweets and re-Tweets, Maya Angelou is alive and well. The gossip site reported over the weekend that the poet missed a Los Angeles awards show because she had been hospitalized. In fact, she hadn't been invited to the presentation. The mix-up exhibited Twitter’s formidable power as an echo chamber. The poet quickly became the top trending topic on the site, with some members adding “RIP” to their Tweets, Reuters reports.
(More Maya Angelou stories.)

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