Terry McMillan

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For the professional harmonica player/percussionist Terry McMillan, see Terry Lee McMillan.

Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951 [1], in Port Huron, Michigan) is an African-American author. Her interest in books comes from working at a library when she was sixteen. She received her BA in journalism in 1986 from the University of California at Berkeley. Her work is characterized by strong female protagonists.

Her first book, Mama, was self-promoted. She achieved national attention in 1992 with her third novel, Waiting To Exhale, which remained on The New York Times bestseller list for many months. Forest Whitaker turned it into a film in 1995. In 1998, another of McMillan's novels, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, was made into a movie. McMillan's novel Disappearing Acts was subsequently produced as a direct-to-cable feature, starring Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan.

Her most recent work, The Interruption of Everything, was published on July 19, 2005.

[edit] Personal Life

McMillan married Jonathan Plummer, in 1998. At the time of their marriage, McMillan was in her mid 40's, Plummer, his early 20's; he was the inspiration for the love interest of the main character in the book How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Her life did not follow the movie when in December of 2005, Plummer told McMillan that he is gay; in January 2006, she filed for divorce. [2] The divorce was settled for an undisclosed amount. In March 2007, McMillan sued Plummer and his lawyer for $40 million citing an intentional strategy to embarrass and humiliate her during the divorce proceedings. [3]