Harper Lee, 'To Kill A Mockingbird Author,' Dies At 89 (BREAKING, TWEETS)

Harper Lee, the famed American author best known for her book "To Kill A Mockingbird," has died at the age of 89, according to the mayor's office in her hometown in Alabama.

Lee, or Nelle as she was known to those close to her, spent the final years of her life in a nursing home less than a mile away from her hometown of Monroeville – the setting for Maycomb in her book, according to The Guardian.

Until last year, Lee was a one-book literary wonder. Her 1961 book, "To Kill A Mockingbird," a tale about small-town layer Atticus Finch's futile attempt to save the life of a black resident unjustly accused of raping a white woman, earned her critical acclaim around the world. It sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and earned her both a Pulitzer prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Following the success of her first book, she worked to avoid public attention while insisting that she had no intention of publishing any further works. Her plans on both fronts didn't come to pass, however, when a second book, titled "Go Set A Watchman," was published in 2015, according to ABC News.

"Go Set A Watchman" was the opposite of her first book. While "To Kill A Mockingbird" detailed race relations in the South through the point of view of a child, "Watchman" featured the same characters but several years later. In the book, an older Atticus had racial views that left the grown-up Scout, the narrator of the first book, greatly disillusioned.

As it turns out, Lee wrote "Watchman" first, but set it aside for "Mockingbird" at the suggestion of an editor, according to Reuters.

Her death has elicited comments from fans all over social media.

Tags

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Racism, Alabama