The death of beloved novelist Harper Lee shocked the literary community Friday. The 89-year-old author of "To Kill a Mockingbird" passed away Friday morning, according to a statement by her nephew and family spokesman Hank Conner.
Conner confirmed that Lee died in her sleep, but the exact cause of her death has yet to be revealed.
Monroe County Coroner Robert Malone declined to comment on Lee's death Friday, but Conner's statement indicates that "Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing."
But Lee had experienced declining health over the past decade in recent years. A stroke in 2007 reportedly left her partially paralyzed and relying on a wheelchair to get around.
She moved into a nursing home, The Meadows of Monroeville a number of years ago, and did not often venture far behind its walls once she was settled there. Multiple friends of Lee's who visited her over the past few years told AL.com last year that her level of alertness and lucidity varied.
She had long been reported to be largely deaf and blind, relying on magnifying equipment to read. She had lost 95 percent of her vision, according to an interview with her sister Alice Lee published in the Mobile Press-Register in 2011.
Source : al.com
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