Harper Lee Dead: 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Author Dies Aged 89

'To Kill A Mockingbird' Author Harper Lee Dies Aged 89
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'To Kill A Mockingbird' author Harper Lee has died, aged 89.

It was confirmed that the reclusive writer had passed away in her hometown of Monroeville on Friday morning.

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Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird' made her a literary superstar

Her 1960 novel made her a literary superstar and won her the Pulitzer prize. It was also turned into a timelessly fascinating film starring Gregory Peck as the lawyer Atticus Finch, who tries to do good in a town whose racial tensions were brought to the surface in a trial.

Harper’s second novel, ‘Go Set A Watchman’, was published in July 2015, after being “rediscovered” in a safety deposit box at her retirement home.

While fans and critics alike were delighted to learn of the novel’s existence, its release was marred in controversy following speculation over whether the reclusive author actually wanted it to be published.

Lawyer Tonya Carter was responsible for the novel's publication, which came just months after the death of Harper's sister Alice, who had acted as her lawyer and advocate for years.

In a bid to dispel the controversies surrounding the publication, Tonja penned an editorial for the Wall Street Journal, in which she also suggested a third book by Harper may have been discovered.

"The manuscript for ‘Watchman’ was underneath a stack of a significant number of pages of another typed text," she wrote.

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