10 Shocking Sides Of Famous Authors - Maya Angelou worked as a prostitute for a while before she got into writing. ow.ly/yRuC7
A US Poet Laureate and the author of books like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou won numerous awards like the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She even recited her work at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration.
In addition to her writing, Angelou worked as a dancer, a fry cook, a magazine editor, a professor, and an actor.
And, oh yeah, she was also a prostitute.Angelou’s life in the sex trade started when she was 17.
A single mom working in a San Francisco bar, she became chummy with two lesbian hustlers who frequented the joint. Angelou offered to help out with their rent and stir up some business if they split their proceeds with her.
However, her life as a madam was short lived as she caught the two turning tricks without her knowledge and keeping the cash for themselves.
Just two years later, Angelou found herself on the other end of the arrangement. She’d met an older, charming man named L.D. “Daddy” Tolbrook, who gave her rides in his fancy car and promised he’d divorce his wife and marry her. Only there was a catch. Tolbrook claimed he owed several thousand dollars to some dangerous gangsters and couldn’t cover his debts. With a con man’s charm,
Tolbrook convinced Angelou to work in his brothel and hand over all her earnings so he could pay off the mob.Her brother found out where she was working and convinced her to give up hooking for good. Her life didn’t automatically get easier, though. Shortly afterward, her son was kidnapped, and later, she barely escaped sinking into drug addiction.
But despite her hardships, she managed to pull through and eventually recorded this difficult part of her life in her autobiography Gather Together in My Name.
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