Finishing School /Maya Angelou/ Maya Angelou (b. 1928) has had careers as dancer, poet, television writer and producer, ac-tress, and writer. She has served as coordinator of the Martin Luther King Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Her books include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), from which this selection is taken, and a memoir, The Heart of a Woman (1981). The irony of the title is immediately apparent to the reader of this graphic portrait of Angelou's …showed first 75 words of 1936 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1936 total…I know that Mrs. Cullinan said, "Her name's Margaret, goddamn it, her name's Margaret." And she threw a wedge of the broken plate at me. It could have been the hysteria which put her aim off, but the flying crockery caught Miss Glory right over her ear and she started screaming. I left the front door wide open so all the neighbors could hear. Mrs. Cullinan was right about one thing. My name wasn't Mary.