A spokesman of the Harper Collins publishing house in New York said she died peacefully Thursday night. The one that had received the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for his first novel, global success, lived out of sight in a retirement home in Monroeville (Alabama), having difficulty seeing and hearing.
Great classic of American literature of the 20th century, studied in schools and universities, “ To Kill a Mockingbird ” tells hatred and racial prejudice in the southern United States during the Great depression of the 30s
He staged Atticus Finch, a white lawyer defending a Black accused of rape in a fictional town in Alabama. The narrator of the novel is his daughter, nicknamed Scout.
Harper Lee was inspired by her childhood including her lawyer father to this first novel in English sold some 30 million copies and translated into 40 languages.
The book was adapted into a film in 1962 by Robert Mulligan, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus under the French title “ To Kill a shadow .” The film won three Oscars.
At 34, the glory is instantaneous for Harper Lee, whose real name Nelle Harper Lee, who becomes a kind of moral conscience.
In 1964, she said in a rare confidence that she was not expecting it.
“ I do not expect any success for The Mockingbird ,” she says, adding she thought killing by critics. “ But I still was hoping someone would love enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I was hoping a little, I had a lot, and somehow, c ‘was as frightening as the quick death without pity I expected . ”
This single shuns celebrity refuses hundreds of interviews and will not publish anything until the surprise of “ Go and post a sentry ” last year which instantly place at the head of book sales in the United States.
This is not a new novel: it was written in the late 50s, but refused by the publisher had asked the young beginner to review its copy. Hence was born “ The mockingbird “, with the same characters.
“ The world knows Harper Lee was a brilliant writer, but what many people do not know is that she was an extraordinary woman, very joyful, a humility and kindness , “said Friday the president of Harper Collins Michael Morrison.
“ She lived the life she wanted – in private – surrounded by books and people who loved .”
– brilliant mind –
“ The world has lost a brilliant mind and a great author ,” wrote Spencer Madrie, owner of Ol ‘Curiosities and Book Shoppe, the small independent bookstore Monroeville (6,000 inhabitants).
Harper Lee, born April 26, 1926 in Monroeville, was the last of four children. She was also a descendant of General Lee, commander of the Confederate troops during the Civil War.
Truman Capote was one of his childhood friends, and she was his assistant in the writing of “ From composure “, his investigation of a made several bloody Kansas.
Early child she had learned to read very early, playing in Monroeville being one of the few distractions.
She gives up in 1949 to law school to try his luck in the literature in New York. She works in an airline reservation desk, writing in parallel, is an agent in 1956.
In 2007, she received the President George W. Bush the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
“ To Kill a Mockingbird “, the first book she published, “ has influenced for good the character of our country “, said Mr. Bush. “ This was a gift for the world .”
Harper Lee had also received the 2010 President Barack Obama the National Medal of Arts.
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