Maya Angelou, the renowned poet, author and civil rights activist, has died at the age of 86, Variety has confirmed.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines told the local Fox affiliate that Angelou was found unresponsive by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that a hearse with a police escort pulled away from Angelou’s home around 9 a.m. local time.

UPDATED.

Maya Angelou, the American poet and author, died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Wednesday. She was 86.

Her son Guy B Johnson confirmed the news in a statement. He said: “Her family is extremely grateful that her ascension was not belabored by a loss of acuity or comprehension.

“She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace. The family is appreciative of the time we had with her and we know that she is looking down upon us with love.”

The Guardian reports Johnson said Angelou “passed quietly in her home” sometime before 8am on Wednesday.

A statement from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982, called Angelou “a national treasure whose life and teachings inspired millions around the world”.

Angelou’s failing health was reported as recently as Tuesday, when she canceled an appearance honoring her with a Beacon of Life Award because of “health reasons”. The ceremony was part of the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon, in Houston, Texas, part of Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Games.

Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson, in St Louis, Missouri, in 1928. She described in an NPR interview how her brother’s lisp .

She survived several personal trials: she was a child of the depression, grew up in the segregated south, survived a childhood rape, gave birth as a teenager, and was, at one time, a prostitute.

She wrote wrote seven autobiographies, including the 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and was a playwright, director, actor, singer, songwriter and novelist.

In 1993, she read On the Pulse of the Morning at President Clinton’s first inauguration, a performance that made the poem a bestseller.

And as news of her death spread, actors, writers, directors, activists and politicians tweeted thankful and mournful notes reacting to Angelou’s passing.

JK Rowling  “utterly amazing”; Lena Dunham for “your power, your politics, your poetry. We need you more than ever.”