Pulitzer prize-winning poet Mary Oliver died Thursday at the age of 83, according to the Associated Press. Oliver, who won critical acclaim for her poems about the beauty of the natural world, succumbed to lymphoma at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. Throughout her life, she authored more than 15 poetry and essay collections and won a Pulitzer, a National Book Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for lifetime achievement. Her fans included Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Oliver was a staunch advocate for the environment: In one of her few press appearances, she told Maria Shriver that “I am not very hopeful about the Earth remaining as it was when I was a child. It’s already greatly changed. But I think when we lose the connection with the natural world, we tend to forget that we’re animals, that we need the Earth.” She added, “If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.”
Thank you, Mary Oliver, for giving so many of us words to live by.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
