15 Other Jobs Maya Angelou Once Held

The world knew Maya Angelou, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 86, as a prolific writer and poet. But she had a long string of other jobs throughout her life

From a cable car conductor to a shake dancer in a nightclub, Angelou's odd jobs seem out of place in a life associated with prose. But when woven together, these were the experiences that made Marguerite Ann Johnson (Angelou's birth name) the person she was

Here are 15 of them.

Dancer

Angelou went to school in San Francisco to study dance, and though she dropped out at 14, her passion for it never seemed to fizzle. At six feet tall, Angelou had an unforgettable stage presence, and she eventually went on to perform in many very different venues. Read more...