Meg Waite Clayton

Author of the international bestsellers The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and 7 other novels

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Happy Birthday, Toni Morrison

Today is Toni Morrison’s birthday. In presenting her the Medal of Freedom in May of 2012, President Obama remarked that as a single mother she

would carve out a little time in the evening to write, often with her two sons pulling on her hair and tugging at her earrings. Once, a baby spit up on her tablet so she wrote around it.

I loved that image of a child’s spit up on the tablet – and remember it myself. No doubt I love it because it is so personally familiar.
So today’s quote in my little 365 quotes by women effort comes from her:

Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison, from Song of Solomon

She’s won the Nobel. She’s won the Pulitzer. You better listen to her.
Happy 86th birthday, Toni Morrison!
Meg

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Meg Waite Clayton


Meg Waite Clayton is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of nine novels, including the forthcoming TYPEWRITER BEACH (Harper, July 1, 2025), the Good Morning America Buzz pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS, the National Jewish Book Award finalist THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, the Langum-Prize honored THE RACE FOR PARIS, and THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. Her novels have been published in 23 languages. She has also written more than 100 pieces for major newspapers, magazines, and public radio, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. megwaiteclayton.com