‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Author, Harper Lee, Dead at 89

Harper Lee was hailed a brilliant writer and an extraordinary woman as tributes poured in following the death of the author of To Kill a Mockingbird at age 89.

Born Nelle Harper Lee in 1926, she grew up in Monroeville, Alabama and was the youngest of four children. The town’s mayor, Mike Kennedy, confirmed the author’s death. One copy of the book inside this shop is signed by the actress from the original film, from when she made a trip to Spokane several years ago.

Last year, Harper Lee produced another book called “Go Set a Watchman”. Lee was presented by President George W. Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and President Obama presented her with the National Medal of Arts.

For decades it was thought Lee would never do a follow up on “To Kill a Mockingbird” and the July 2015 publication of “Go Set a Watchman” was a surprising literary event – as well as a shock for devotees of “Mockingbird”.

At Capitol Book & News, To Kill a Mockingbird was always in stock. Lee was able to keep her own counsel and, along with friends and relatives, protect her privacy.

Brock said he met Lee through her older sister, Alice, and that the author used to spend her summers in Monroeville after moving to NY.

“More and setting me straight on Tudor history”.

What an wonderful gift we got from Harper Lee, who passed away Thursday at 89.

“Today, I join Alabamians and all Americans in mourning the passing of Harper Lee”, Shelby said in a statement.

Every year, people discover and rediscover the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

For most of her life, Lee divided her time between New York City, where she wrote the novel in the 1950s, and her hometown of Monroeville, which inspired the book’s fictional Maycomb. With To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee managed to write a book that some people have ranked as their favorite book of all time, right after the Bible.

Curious circumstances, however, surround “Watchman’s” release, with some evidence suggesting Lee may never have wanted the book published at all. I’m very sad at her loss.

“Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books”, she wrote. It sold more than 1.1 million copies in one week. “We have lost a great writer, a great friend and a beacon of integrity”.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) praised the author in a tweet Friday, saying “One of the great writers of all time, Harper Lee laid bare the soul of America and her work will continue to educate others for generations”.