*Author Maya Angelou and TV producer Norman Lear have been chosen to receive the 2008 Marian Anderson Award, which honors artists whose leadership benefits humankind.
The pair will receive their awards, as well as an accompanying $100,000 honorarium, during a ceremony to be held Nov. 17 in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, reports the Associated Press.
Angelou, 80, has written more than a dozen best sellers including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," as well as three Grammy-winning spoken-word albums, poetry, plays and children's books. She also has written for television and film, serving on the board of the American Film Institute and as a member of the Director's Guild.
Lear, 76, was creator, producer and writer for such television classics as "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," "The Jeffersons" and "Maude."
In its 10th year, the annual Marian Anderson Award is named for the famed contralto and Philadelphia native, who died in 1993 at age 96. Previous recipients include Harry Belafonte, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, Sidney Poitier and Richard Gere.