Later Life
Coretta later founded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. She was the CEO and President of the Martin Luther King Jr. center. She later gave ownership of the center to her son Dexter. After giving ownership to her son she started to write. She published her memoir My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1969. She also wrote articles regularly and published a syndicated column. Coretta was also a commentator on CNN.
Death
In August, Coretta suffered a heart attack and stroke. She later died of respiratory failure on January 30, 2006 at age 78 in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. Her final resting place was next to her husband in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.