Harper Lee Reportedly Dead At 89

Harper Lee, the woman who launched a million legal careers, is reportedly dead at 89.

To_Kill_a_MockingbirdHarper Lee, the woman who launched a million legal careers, is reportedly dead at 89. According to a story from AL.com, the author, best known for the classic To Kill A Mockingbird, passed away in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.

Lee’s first novel, the aforementioned To Kill A Mockingbird, was published in 1960, and was a smashing success, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction the following year. The poignant story about racism and justice in the South fashioned a hero out of a lawyer, and cast a noble aura around the profession.

It was amid controversy that Lee released her second novel, Go Set A Watchman. In it, the hero of Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, was revealed to be a racist and fundamentally changed the way the beloved protagonist was perceived. Jezebel notes the issues surrounding the publication of Watchman:

Go Set a Watchman, the reclusive author’s second book, was the subject of much controversy after its 2015 release; although a state investigation found that Lee, who had a stroke in 2007 and was living in a nursing home, was not coerced into publishing the book, the novel’s quality and the fact that it surfaced directly after her sister’s death (Alice Lee had long served as the author’s counsel and “gatekeeper”) continued to raise questions.

The legal community will surely mourn this legend.

Harper Lee dead at age of 89: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird Author’ passes away [AL.com]
Harper Lee Has Reportedly Died at Age 89 [Jezebel]

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