Robin Roberts began her leave from Good Morning America a day early so she could fly home to Mississippi to be with her mother, Lucimarian Tolliver Roberts, who passed away Thursday at the age of 88.
Roberts’ co-anchor George Stephanopoulos announced the sad news on GMA this morning. “Robin did make it to say goodbye,” he said.
In a note passed around to ABC staff, Roberts is said to have traveled to the storm-damaged town of Gulfport, Mississippi, making her way through “flooded and blocked roads to be with her beloved Mother in time to see her.”
The first African-American leader of Mississippi’s Board of Education, Lucimarian “loved the written word and the poetry and joy of song,” according to the note circulated to ABC staffers. “She even recorded a CD of hymns for her family as a gift last year.” Mother and daughter once collaborated on a book called My Story, My Song — Mother-Daughter Reflections on Life and Faith.
Roberts, a breast cancer survivor, is on an extended medical leave from GMA, for treatment of the rare bone marrow disorder MDS.
Leave your condolences for the Roberts family.