Lee’s awards:
-Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1961, "To Kill a Mockingbird"
-Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2007
Film honors
-Academy Award for Best Actor — Gregory Peck
-Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay – Horton Foote
-Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black-and-White — (Henry Bumstead, Alexander Golitzen, and Oliver Emert)
Harper Lee, the well-known, reclusive author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," died at age 89 on Feb 19. HarperCollins, her publisher, said in statement that Lee died peacefully.
“Mockingbird," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, has been read far and wide, studied and analyzed meticulously and praised by generations. The coming of age story, told through the point of view of a young girl named Scout, takes place in the Great Depression era when racial tensions were high.
Lee’s death impacted Ball State students who were personally affected by her work.
Kaitlyn Pulos, a freshman studio arts major, said Lee was incredible.
“The way she animated the characters and let you feel how they felt was inspiring,” Pulos said.
Pulos also said although she found out about Lee’s death on Facebook, there has not been as large of a social media wave as she expected there to be.
Laurinda Webb, a freshman English education major, said Lee’s death is like having a teacher or a really good friend walk out of her life forever.
“I’ve always tried to see the best in people, and 'Mockingbird' reminded me so much of my aspirations,” Webb said. “It truly was a book that changed the way I looked at life.”
Webb said the book had an impact on her choice of major. She knew she wanted to teach, but reading “Mockingbird” only heightened her decision further.
Webb said the book is definitely one she will make her students read, for the lessons it teaches: to always look for the best in people.
“[‘Mockingbird’ is one book] that will always be close to my heart,” she said.
After seemingly being a one-hit wonder, Lee published “Go Set a Watchman” in 2015, the sequel to “Mockingbird.” The events of the novel take place 20 years later, with Scout as a young woman returning to Maycomb, Alabama, where she grew up.
Aaron Sorkin, who is adapting “Mockingbird” into a Broadway show, also released a short statement.
“Like millions of others, I was saddened to learn this morning of the passing of Harper Lee, one of America’s most beloved authors. I’m honored to have the opportunity to adapt her seminal novel for the stage,” he wrote.
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