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TV producer Norman Lear and author Maya Angelou will be the 2008 recipients of the Marian Anderson Award, which honors artists whose leadership benefits humanity.

Mayor Michael Nutter says Lear and Angelou were chosen because of their ability to “change society through their art and the courage of (their) convictions.”

Angelou and Lear are to accept their awards at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 17. Each award carries a $100,000 honorarium.

Eighty-year-old Angelou has written more than a dozen best-selling books including “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” as well as three Grammy-winning spoken-word albums, poetry, plays and children’s books.

Seventy-six-year-old Lear was creator, producer and writer for television series that became cultural landmarks including “All in the Family,” ”Sanford and Son,” ”The Jeffersons” and “Maude.” In 1982, he founded the advocacy group People for the American Way.