I want to think he made me a better person.

I re-read all the plays. I'm not sad. He was out of this world—so common, regular, ordinary, but capable of writing awesome poetry. If someone wants to understand what frustrations we felt in the 1950s read 'Fences.' To know about how Blacks were exploited in the music business read 'Ma Rainey.' All those things that teach us from centuries ago to the present are in the forefront of his words.

'What's it about,' I asked, and he said, 'It's about a guy selling watermelons,' ... I said, 'You're gonna put a black man on stage selling watermelons?' And August said, 'He's trying to buy some land.'

I re-read all the plays. I'm not sad. He was out of this world—so common, regular, ordinary, but capable of writing awesome poetry. If someone wants to understand what frustrations we felt in the 1950s read 'Fences.' To know about how Blacks were exploited in the music business read 'Ma Rainey.' All those things that teach us from centuries ago to the present are in the forefront of his words.

I left thinking August's lost his mind, ... When I read 'The Piano Lesson,' I realized it encompassed the entire African-American experience. August Wilson's legacy is as important as Martin Luther King's legacy, as important as Malcolm X's legacy and as important as Nat Turner.

What's it about,' I asked, and he said, 'It's about a guy selling watermelons,' ... I said, 'You're gonna put a black man on stage selling watermelons?' And August said, 'He's trying to buy some land.