In a ceremony
Wednesday in a gilded hall in the Paris ministry, Frederic Mitterrand pinned a
red and gold medal onto the celebrated US author's jacket as a scrum of photographers
snapped away.
Mitterrand calls Morrison, whose 1987 novel "Beloved"
won her international acclaim, "the greatest American novelist of her
time." Morrison says the award showed that "in addition to being
welcomed" in France, she's "prized."
She was made an officer in
the Legion of Honor. Created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, the legion
recognizes military, cultural, scientific or social contributions to France.