Feminist, Author, And Poet bell hooks Dies At 69

Influential author, feminist, poet, and critic bell hooks passed away Wednesday morning at her home. She was 69.

“We sadly confirm that our sister Gloria Jean Watkins (bell hooks) passed away at her home in Berea KY in the early morning hour today. She chose cremation so a celebration of life service will be at a later time,” her family said in a statement.

Her niece, Ebony Motley, said she had been ill and was surrounded by friends and family when she died, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

Hooks published more than 30 books throughout her lifetime. She was most known for “Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women and Feminism” and “All About Love.” She covered topics such as sexuality, race, and gender. 

Hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Her pen name was inspired by her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. She chose to use all lower case letters in the hopes that it would let her words be the focus, not herself. She received a Bachelors’ degree from Staford University and a Masters’ from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hooks then went on to earn a doctorate from the University of California – Santa Cruz.

Throughout her career, she won several awards, including the American Book Award in 1991 for “Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics.” The Black Caucus of the American Library Association awarded her the Best Poetry Award in 2013 for “Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place.”

Hooks taught at multiple universities, including Yale Univesity, City College of New York, and Oberlin Collge. She most recently taught at Berea College.