Private funeral service held for Harper Lee in Alabama hometown

According to the Associated Press, A few dozen family members gathered at the First United Methodist Church in Monroeville where Harper was buried. In Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, we follow the coming-of-age tale told from the perspective of seven-year-old Scout Finch and her older brother Jem as their father and lawyer Atticus takes their hand through life and the challenges it throws up in the deeply divided American south. Especially when Atticus is appointed to defend a black man, wrongly accused of raping a white girl.

The acclaimed author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and its companion piece published past year, “Go Set a Watchman”, was laid to rest at her family burial plot, alongside her father, mother and one sister, Alice, Carter said. The southern town was home to childhood friends Truman Capote and Lee, giving rise to its self-given nickname of the literary capital of the South.

News of Lee’s death spread widely on social media and tributes poured in from well-known figures, such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, who quoted the author in a tweet by saying, “Rest in peace, Harper Lee”.

Until she died in her sleep early Friday, at age 89, Lee had lived at the Meadows, an assisted living facility here.

Harper Lee was a different story, recalled the Rev. Thomas Butts, who was pastor from 1993 to 1998.

Bush, who awarded Lee a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, said she had been a voice for tolerance.

Friends and family say the famed author’s legacy is unquestionable.

“Her writing transcends generations.” says Flynt. The novel is often on the list of books read in school, and some people revisit the story later in life when they’re an adult. The novel was adapted into a Hollywood film which won three Oscars in 1963, including the best actor award for Gregory Peck for his portrayal of Finch, one of the best-loved characters in American fiction. “They made my stay here in Monroeville much better than it would have been”.

“She’s a part of it and always will be”, said Ann Mote, owner of the Ol’ Curiosites & Book Shoppe in Monroeville.

The courthouse is a museum that pays homage to her creation. There’s the Mockingbird Inn on the edge of town and a statute of children reading, “Mockingbird” in the courthouse square. ‘She changed the world with ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. A black mourning bow donned the top of the sign at the bookstore, where a stack of hardcopy “Mockingbird” books sat the counter along with a DVD of the movie. She would have a private funeral but no date was announced.

“I think to kill a mockingbird will be read for ever and ever”, Theroux said.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of only two novels Lee wrote. “That was a book about her dad”. “Nothing can be more important than that and that’s what influenced me”, Jaffe said.