Harper Lee laid to rest at private funeral

Lee, whose 1960 book To Kill a Mockingbird about racism and injustice in the US South is a classic of American literature, died on Friday at age 89 in her home town of Monroeville, Alabama.

Carter had said she came across the “Watchman” manuscript while doing legal work for Lee in 2014 and an investigation by Alabama state officials found there was no coercion in getting Lee’s permission to publish. “Rest in peace, Harper Lee”, he posted.

According to the Associated Press, A few dozen family members gathered at the First United Methodist Church in Monroeville where Harper was buried.

Flynt said he delivered a eulogy that Lee specifically requested years ago.

Flynt read a speech from 2006 that he wrote about Lee for winning a racial justice award. ‘Not one thing more, and not one thing less’.

Details of the service were fiercely guarded.

Friends and family say the famed author’s legacy is unquestionable. Lee’s family said in a statement that she will be laid to rest in a private ceremony.

Until she died in her sleep early Friday, at age 89, Lee had lived at the Meadows, an assisted living facility here.

The mood in this town of about 6,300 was muted, like Lee’s approach to celebrity, which she eschewed Amber Portwood.

The town was appropriately somber a day after their native daughter’s death.

“She was a great gal”, Monroeville resident Joe Brock told CBS affiliate WIAT.

“She’s a part of it and always will be”, said Mote.

“She wanted to be buried before anyone knew she was dead, and we’re getting as close to it as possible”, said George Landegger, an industrialist and philanthropist, who attended the service. And I’m glad to say that I was her friend and Alice’s friend.

“It had an impact on me when I was younger”. “I always wanted to interview her. She said ‘honey I already said everything I had to say'”. Did Atticus, based closely on Lee’s father, really change or was he simply a patrician more comfortable with the old rules, when all the powers belong to whites?

Nelle Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Ala., one of four children. The novel is often on the list of books read in school, and some people revisit the story later in life when they’re an adult.

The book quickly became a best-seller, won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a memorable movie in 1962, with Gregory Peck winning an Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus.

Scout grows up with Atticus’ wise words ringing in her ears. “Everybody wants to be the hero, or the heroine, that stands up for somebody else”. There’s the Mockingbird Inn on the edge of town and a statute of children reading, “Mockingbird” in the courthouse square. It eventually took on aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird, like a theme park with statues of the main characters, murals of important scenes, a museum display and tours of the courtroom.