Remembering Harper Lee
The world lost a literary icon today with the death of Harper Lee at the age of 89. A statement provided to the media by her family said “The family of Nelle Harper Lee, of Monroeville, Alabama, announced today, with great sadness, that Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing. The family is in mourning and there will be a private funeral service in the upcoming days, as she had requested.”
Her only novel was published at the age of 34 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1964. Set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird” tells the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer and family man defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white girl. The narrator of the story, Finch’s daughter, Scout is an intelligent, introspective young girl who recalls her observations of her world. Her warmth and insight bring the characters to life and many of these characters are drawn from Lee’s own life.
The story, told through the eyes of a child, highlights the hypocrisy and irrational behaviors associated with race relations in the Deep South of the 30’s. It is also a tale of one man’s decision to stand up for what is right in the face of deep prejudice and personal risk.
“To Kill A Mockingbird” has been translated in more than 40 languages, and sold over 40 million copies worldwide. It was named the best novel of the 20th century by librarians around the country (Library Journal) and is a staple in high school English and composition classes around the U.S.
Added nephew Hank Conner in the statement, “This is a sad day for our family. America and the world knew Harper Lee as one of the last century’s most beloved authors. We knew her as Nelle Harper Lee, a loving member of our family, a devoted friend to the many good people who touched her life, and a generous soul in our community and our state. We will miss her dearly.”
While her book touched the heart of a nation, perhaps most poignant of all are Lee’s own words in an interview she gave in 1964 to Roy Newquist that was published in a book of interviews Counterpoint. When asked when she became interested in writing, she responded “That would be hard to say. I can’t remember, because I think I’ve been writing as long as I’ve been able to form words. I never wrote with an idea of publishing anything, of course, until I began working on Mockingbird. I think that what went before may have been a rather subconscious form of learning how to write, of training myself. You see, more than a simple matter of putting down words, writing is a process of self-discipline you must learn before you can call yourself a writer. There are people who write, but I think they’re quite different from people who must write.”
She was one of the “must write” people and the her words embedded inside the pages of her novel, will forever live on.
“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird