Harper Lee, Visionary Author Of "To Kill A Mockingbird", Has Died At 89

Harper Lee has died today, at the age of 89, in a nursing home in her home town of Monroeville, AL.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was published in 1961, to almost immediate critical acclaim. It sold forty million copies and is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novels of all time.

The book focuses on Atticus Finch, a lawyer trying to save the life of a black man from a racist mob. The book was adapted into a movie in 1962. Atticus Finch was played by Gregory Peck. The movie went on to win three Oscars, including Best Actor for Peck.

Lee's second book, a sequel to "Mockingbird", titled "Go Set A Watchman", was released last year amidst some controversy. By 2015 Lee had become frail and reclusive. Many questioned the timing of the release, questioning whether Lee was able to give consent to the book being published. The book was not well received.

Lee didn't give many interviews or talk about her writing publicly. In an interview in 1964 she said simply “I would like to leave some record of the kind of life that existed in a very small world.
In other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama.”
It's safe to say that she achieved that, and much more beside it.