Reading Road Trip ... Arkansas

I have seen some photographs of the Ozarks that make the state look breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately, I have never been to the Ozarks but I have driven though Little Rock. My sister and I were driving to California one December and we stopped there one night, not in the scenic part of town. We were so ready to leave the city that we got up before dawn the next day and headed out.
Charlaine Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse "True Blood" books) set her Lily Bard series in Shakeseare, Arkansas and they sound like a lot of fun. John Grisham's novel A Painted House (set in 1952 with a secret that involves migrant workers) takes place in Arkansas. So does Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Maya Angelou on Shakespeare

"Shakespeare must be a Black Girl."

--Maya Angelou

Illustration from William Shakespeare Things

I read that quote years ago and have never forgotten it. Over on the William Shakespeare Things blog, there's a clarification of what Angelou meant.  It seems appropriate to revisit the quote even as the memorial service for America's poet laureate is underway.