Almanac of Story Tellers: Terry McMillan

Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of Oct. 18th

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    It is the 290th day of the year, leaving 75 days remaining in 2022.

    On this date in 1951, the author Terry McMillan was born.

 

   She tells her stories about the lives of Black women in a realistic, modern manner. She uses humor, a knowing tone, and a warmth that opens up the lives of her characters. In her books, Black women raise children, seek love and friendship, and embrace their identify.

    Born in Port Huron, Mich., she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1977. She did graduate work before publishing her first novel, Mama, in 1987. She helped sell the novel by writing to hundreds of mostly African-America bookstores, encouraging them to display and sell her work.

    She hit her stride with her third novel, Waiting to Exhale, in 1992. The story of four Black professional women looking for love hit a chord among those who saw themselves in the pages of the novel. It was a runaway best-seller, and its movie version in 1995, starring Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett, was a hit.

    Her next novel, How Stella Got Her Grove Back, is about a wealthy Black woman who finds love while on vacation in Jamaica. It also was a hit as a novel and a movie.  

    McMillan continues to write from her home in Los Angeles. Her latest novel is It's Not All Downhill From Here.