‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author Harper Lee’s cause of death, confirmed

Novelist Harper Lee, best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, made a lasting impact in the world of literature by tackling social and racial issues head on.

Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, in 1926 and her interest in literature began in high school. She attended Huntingdon College before transferring to the University of Alabama where she wrote the school’s newspaper and worked her way to becoming the editor. In her junior year, Lee was accepted into law school, but after a year, she realized it wasn’t what she wanted. After spending a semester as an exchange student at Oxford University in England, Lee returned home to Alabama only to drop out of law school months before graduation.

She published only two books in her lifetime

Lee pursued a writing career in New York, but she had to take various jobs to make a living and only wrote on the side. In 1956, however, her close friends offered to support her so she could pursue her passion more freely and concentrate on writing her novel. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1950 and garnered mixed reviews from critics. Nevertheless, the book sold 500,000 copies in its first year, and Lee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction the following year. The novel has been translated into about 40 languages and has sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

Lee’s second book, Go Set a Watchman, was published in 2015, 55 years after the release of To Kill a Mockingbird. The former features many of the characters from Lee’s first book and is reportedly based on an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird that her editor shelved.

Harper Lee lived a private life

The writer didn’t enjoy basking in the limelight and lived a private life. Author Marja Mills, who was friends with Lee and her sister, released a book titled The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee. Mills asked Lee’s sister Alice why Harper hasn’t written other books to which she answered, “When you have hit the pinnacle, how would you feel about writing more? Would you feel like you’re competing with yourself?” she said. Lee was also quoted as saying she didn’t want to go through the same “pressure and publicity” she experienced after her first book.

Lee died on Feb. 19, 2016, in her Alabama hometown. According to her nephew, she was at an assisted living facility and died peacefully in her sleep. She was 89 years old.