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TONI MORRISON
The great American novelist and Nobel laureate used breathtaking prose and a clear moral vision in pursuit of a more humane and just world
I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO LORAIN, Ohio, but it has been on my bucket list for 20 years at least. I’m curious about this town, pop. 64,000, located roughly 130 miles north of Columbus, at the mouth of the Black River. One of my students drove across the country, passing through the town with which I was so infatuated. I asked her to bring me back a small sample of dirt. It isn’t rich and loamy, as I imagined it would be. Instead, it is the soft brown of cocoa powder, grainy and dry. Still, I keep it on my writing desk, sealed in a tiny jar that once held baby food. This earth, scooped from the hometown of Toni Morrison, is my totem.
Morrison, who died Aug. 5 at the age of 88, is not
