It is difficult to write about your hero. It’s especially difficult to write about your hero knowing that they have won the Pulitzer Prize for, arguably, one of the most beautiful, powerful, and important pieces of literature ever published. It is even more difficult to write about such a person knowing that they have moved on from this life. With pride and sadness in my heart, I write today to honor author Harper Lee, who passed away on Friday, February 19th at the age of eighty-nine.
To Kill a Mockingbird was first published on July 11th, 1960. Ms. Lee became an overnight sensation by shedding light on American racism, just as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was getting into full swing. A year later, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize despite an intense aversion to fame. Ms. Lee was a recluse, living out a quiet life in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama—just a jump, skip, and a hop away from the courthouse that she immortalized. Monroeville residents were protective and caring for their longtime resident, the self-proclaimed “Jane Austen of South Alabama.”
Harper Lee was an average, American woman, with a love for books, a heart full of kindness, and an intimate understanding of the human condition. She was a regular Southern girl who just happened to leave a dramatic mark on the American consciousness, as well as the literary canon.
I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time in eighth grade. I read it again when it was assigned to me during my freshman year. My paperback copy of this beloved novel was, after several more readings, eventually beaten by love and overuse until it seemed to vanish from my bookshelf. On the cover was a portrait of young Jean Louise Finch, Lee’s young protagonist, who allowed me to see the world through new eyes—I saw what Scout saw, I learned as Scout learned, and I loved as Scout loved. I remember she had thick bangs and only the slightest smile on the cover of my book. Years later, I still aspire to grow up to become that little girl.
Like she did for countless others, Harper Lee changed my life. Her words have done more to shape my worldview than I would have ever believed possible. She opened my eyes to the magic and power of literature; she showed me how far a few words can go in changing the world. It’s hard to fathom how much I owe to this woman that I’ve only interacted with through frozen words on a printed page, and yet, for all Ms. Lee has done for me, I owe her a sincere thank-you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee for giving me Scout Finch for a playmate, Atticus for a teacher, Miss Maudie for a shoulder to cry on, Tom Robinson for a saint, and Boo Radley for a protector. Thank you for letting me adopt young Jem as a brother and a friend. Thank you for giving me Maycomb County, a place to feel safe when I grow world-weary, a place to explore with childish wonder, a place to love as if it were my own hometown.
Thank you, Ms. Lee, for showing the world what words can do, for changing the hearts of men, for making the world a better place. Thank you for protecting mockingbirds everywhere. Thank you for shedding light upon the darkness of our world, and then giving us the means to fight back against it. Thank you for giving us the strength to carry on in the face of adversity, opposition, and downright meanness.
Thank you, Ms. Lee, for balancing the good with the evil, the happy with the sad, the Finches with the Ewells, the literary with the reality of youth, innocence, fear, hatred, love, and life. Thank you for showing us that a person is not just one thing, that we can change for better or for worse, that we all have more than one character within us. Thank you for loving us when we are Finches, guiding us when we are Radleys, and helping us when we are Ewells.
Thank you, Ms. Lee, for reminding us that not everything is black-and-white, for giving us a story that never stops teaching. Thank you for showing us that innocence doesn’t need to be forgotten once it’s lost, that there is importance in standing up for what you believe, and that goodness can always overcome. Thank you for tackling the hard issues—racism, justice, gender, inequality, and so much more—and letting us learn from you over and over again. Thank you for being my moral compass.
Thank you, Ms. Lee, for showing us that you’re never too young to make a difference or too old to change the world. (Lee’s second novel, Go Set a Watchman, the “parent” of TKM, was published in 2015. She was eighty-nine.) Thank you for showing us that we have the power to change ourselves, to change our world. Thank you for your encouragement.
Thank you, Ms. Lee, for being more than just an author. Thank you for teaching me how to be a person. Thank you for filling me with an abundance of love for human beings, for the world around me.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Thank you for all the good your work has done for me, for others, and for the world. Thank you, thank you, and thank you, again.
Harper Lee was a gift to this world for which I will forever be grateful and undeserving. Rest in peace, Ms. Lee; it’s time to lay down the pen. I’ll watch over the mockingbirds for you down here on earth.
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