American Author Harper Lee Dies At 89
CURNOW: You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining us. The literary world is mourning the loss of Harper Lee. The iconic American author, spent most of her 89 years out of the spotlight, but no one who read the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" could forget her talent. Anderson Cooper has more on Harper Lee's life and work.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360" (voice-over): A life lesson delivered by the fictional Alabama lawyer, Atticus Finch, in the 1962 film "To Kill A Mockingbird." The movie looks at the racial injustice of the 1930s through the eyes of Finch's daughter, Scout. These characters were first brought to life by famed author, Harper Lee, in a novel that became a classic for all generations. Nell Harper Lee was born April 28, 1926 in a small town of Monroeville, Alabama. Lee's father was a lawyer and served as inspiration for her book "Civil Rights Hero." Following in her father's footsteps, Lee studied law at the University of Alabama and became editor of the school's humorous and literary magazines. But age 23, she'd abandoned law and moved to New York to become a writer. There, Lee reunited with her childhood friend and fellow writer, (inaudible). Assisting him in the research that led to his breakthrough novel "In Cold Blood." Their unique friendship played out on the big screen in the award-winning movie, "Capote." Lee's first novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird" was published in 1960 and received the Pulitzer Prize. In 2007, President George W. Bush presented Lee with a Medal of Freedom.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Filled with admiration for a great American, and a lovely lady named Harper Lee.</s>COOPER: But for most of her life, she stayed out of the spotlight. In one of the few interviews Lee ever granted, she offered a glimpse into her thoughts, saying, I want to do the best I can with the talent God gave me. All I want to be is the Jane Austin of South Alabama. In 2015, the literary world was stunned by the announcement that a second Harper Lee manuscript, titled "Go Set A Watchman" would be published. Completed in 1957, "Watchman" was actually written before "To Kill A Mockingbird" and features Scout and Atticus some 20 years later.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This is really the publishing event of the decade.</s>COOPER: That excitement lit up the small town where Harper Lee grew up and lived in her twilight years.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To have another book, we are charmed.</s>COOPER: But many fans were disappointed in the portrayal of the characters they knew and loved.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple of the tweets really echoing the devastation of fans out there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The idea of Atticus Finch being racist is like Spielberg doing sequel in which E.T. punches Elliott in the face and steals his lunch money.</s>COOPER: "Watchman" still became a best-seller. The fastest selling book in Harper Collins publishing history. Through all the funfair, Harper Lee remained quiet, rarely seen or heard from. But forever remembered for inspiring the world through her written words.</s>CURNOW: Beautiful piece there from Anderson. Let's get more on Harper Lee's legacy. David Kipen is a lecturer at the UCLA Writing Programs, and he is a former director of literature for the National Endowment for Arts. You are very well qualified, sir, to talk about "To Kill A Mockingbird." I think so many people around the world, no matter where they are have read it. It's not just a book that speaks to the American style, it's quite universal in its themes, isn't it?</s>DAVID KIPEN, LECTURER, UCLA WRITING PROGRAMS: Yes, tremendously universal. It's been translated into 40 languages. It's probably sent more people to law school than tiger moms at this point. It's a classic. That who's impact is sending people to law school, I think tends to overshadow its quality as literature. I teach at UCLA, and much though I love it, there is a bias all across academia that a book this readable can't possibly be a classic, can't possibly be literature. And I think if people go back to it, they'll see that there's some very subtle ingenious things that she's doing in this book that earn it every last ounce of love that the world has awarded it at this point.</s>CURNOW: So, is it then the combination, the combination of the content, the historical contents, the context, that deep thoughts about race and class in early 20th Century America, or is it also the writing, the art?</s>KIPEN: I think it's definitely the writing, but of course, it was an earthquake when it came out. For a young woman from Alabama to be writing a novel as sensitive as this. I mean, you've done so much work in South Africa. I mean, when "Cried The Beloved Country" by Allan Patton came out, I think you see the same kind of impact that leads to over the decades, incredible social change. It would be a shame though if that overshadowed just what a funny book it is. I mean, for all of its high mindedness, if Scout weren't the scamp and the troublemaker and the comic voice that she is. I don't think any of the social statement would have registered.</s>CURNOW: You talk about all the great authors of the 20th Century who dealt with these tough issues of race particularly, but I mean, Harper Lee is being called one of the greatest, if not the greatest author that was an American author saying that, but this book is the novel also. Capital letters. Was America ready for the book when it came out?</s>KIPEN: Ideally, I think you would say that no book, no classic, finds a readership that is quite ready for it. I think a book, not just finds, but makes its readership if it's good enough. And a lot of people who read it weren't ready for it at the beginning, but by the end, may well have realized that this was in fact, they should, a book they should have been ready for, far earlier.</s>CURNOW: And, you know, when we talk about great authors and people who just managed to capture the moment, this was just one novel. We set aside the other one that was published "To Go Set A Watchman," "To Kill A Mockingbird" was really the only book Harper Lee published in 50 years. And one person said she felt she said enough. She didn't need to do anything more after that.</s>KIPEN: I think that's true. I mean, if people read the book carefully or, you know, pay attention to the really lovely movie that was made from it from the script, the temptation is to identify her with Scout. She was a little girl at the time of the story's events, Harper Lee was, so of course, little girl narrating it, it's tempting to identify the two, but in fact, I think Harper Lee in that story is Bo Rabbly (ph). It's the reclusive, awkward neighbor who lives across the street, doesn't come out much, and is much happier communicating in little bits of yarn and messages pass the back and forth between him and Scout in a knot hole of a tree. That was Harper Lee. She was so content to let her book speak for her. That sometimes I think we expect too much of writers. I mean, what a great gift "To Kill a Mockingbird is." It seems almost churlish to expect anything more than any writer than at least one book that good.</s>CURNOW: Yes, that's enough. What a gift as you say. Harper Lee has passed away at the age of 89, though we will be talking and you will be teaching about her words for many years to come. Thank you so much, David.</s>KIPEN: It's been an honor.</s>CURNOW: Well, still ahead, Republicans go to the polls in South Carolina Saturday to choose a nominee for president. The candidates are hitting the trail hard trying to win over undecided voters. More on that race, next.