Coretta Scott King Hospitalized in Fair Condition After Stroke

Coretta Scott King, 78, was hospitalized Wednesday after suffering a stroke, according to two family friends. Wednesday evening her condition was listed as fair, with her vital signs stable, but she will probably remain in Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta until at least Thursday, doctors have said. The King family did not discuss her condition publicly, but instead issued a simple statement expressing their appreciation for the support of the public and friends of the family. "Please continue to keep her and us in your thoughts and prayers as she moves toward a speedy and complete recovery," Martin Luther King III said in the statement.

Poet Maya Angelou, a close personal friend of King’s said that she had discussed Mrs. King’s heath problems with her when they spoke by phone a few weeks ago. Angelou had planned to go to Atlanta to see her, since King had recently cancelled several public appearances, which had raised public concerns about possible health problems. "She's my sister friend and I pray for her and her children," Angelou said. "Everybody, please give a good thought, a positive thought for Coretta." The Rev. Joseph Lowery, former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said that someone in King’s office told him initially that Mrs. King had not suffered a stroke. But he was skeptical that the news was being suppressed because, according to Lowery, the family is "very protective of her condition." Lowery has since said that Mrs. King is speaking with difficulty, but she is holding her own.

After her husband was assassinated in 1968, Mrs. King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and she has traveled widely throughout the years to help further the cause of her husband’s dreams. Friends of Mrs. King have said that she was diagnosed with a heart malady of some kind this spring, and has had several small strokes prior to the more serious one she suffered on Tuesday. Martin Luther King III said in June that his mother was doing well and following doctor’s orders to limit her activities, but he did not give any further details about her state of health at the time. The doors to the King Center were locked on Wednesday.