Morrison lauded for her inspiration

First through her presence and then by her words of encouragement, Toni Morrison changed Valerie Boyer’s life.

Boyer was a junior at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 2015 when Morrison — the Howard alumna and winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes who died Monday night at age 88 — visited one of Boyer’s classes.

“She came and sat with us, not in a big chair up front, and asked about our lives,” said Boyer, 24, a Delaware resident. “She was regal but just accessible. And she spoke with a mix of intellectual brilliance and `black granny,’ if you can imagine that. It was a front-porch kind of conversation.”

Boyer was one of five students asked to read her class essay to Morrison. Later in the day, Boyer ran into the famous author again on campus and was stunned when Morrison remembered her.

“She said, ‘You’re going