Obituaries
Amiri Baraka, former poet laureate and author, dead at 79
The controversial writer, activist, and former poet laureate of New Jersey has died.
Amiri Baraka, a controversial writer, activist, and former poet laureate of New Jersey has died.
Most known as a poet, Baraka was also a music critic and a dynamic playwright. His play, “Dutchman,” premiered in 1964 and received an Obie Award. Baraka was born Everett LeRio Jones in 1934 in Newark, NJ.
He attended Rutgers University and Howard University, spent three years in the U.S. Air Force, and returned to New York City to attend Columbia University and the New School for Social Research. He was also a professor at several universities.
He was hospitalized in December for an unknown condition. He was 79.