First lady Michelle Obama speakes Saturday at a private memorial service for poet and author Maya Angelou, the White House said.<br />The service takes at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where Angelou first began teaching in 1982. <br />Angelou, who died last week at age 86, was a favorite of the Obamas. President Obama praised her as a "brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman." The president's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, was named for Angelou.<br />Although Angelou supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries, she later endorsed Barack Obama. In a 2009 essay in Essence magazine, Angelou recounted how she sought advice from Oprah Winfrey before introducing the Obamas at an event and praised Michelle Obama for her "effortless grace."<br /><br />Wake Forest University says there will be other celebrations of Angelou's life in other cities. Her son, Guy Johnson, will release that information at a later date.
