Harper Lee, whose landmark, Pulitzer Prize-winning book “To Kill a Mockingbird” brought new light to racial injustice, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most widely read American novels of the 20th century, HarperCollins reported in 2015.
Lee declined interviews in the late 1960s and did not publish another book until “Go Set a Watchman” was released last year. Lee died on Feb. 19. She was 89.
However private the author was, “To Kill a Mockingbird” endures, a standard reading in high schools around the country and frequently selected for city- and statewide reading efforts.
Marja Mills, author of “The Mockingbird Next Door,” which is the memoir of her relationship with Harper Lee and her sister, Alice, will lead a discussion on “Go Set a Watchman” at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 13.
Mills, a Chicago Tribune alum and a member of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for a 2001 series about O’Hare Airport, moved into the house next door to the Lee sisters and spent 18 months getting to know them.
What to expect at the book festival: New insights on Lee’s life and writing.
—Marja Mills will speak at 10 a.m. on Sunday
