"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy...That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Today, America lost one of the greatest authors it has ever produced and certainly the most famous and influential author from the Deep South. Harper Lee (1926-2016) influenced millions and opened the country's eyes to the abhorrent racism that was still alive and strong in the South with her 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird . The book, which follows the Finch family as they struggle with racism, growing up, hope, and tragedy in their small town, Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression, became a quintessential part of American literature and became a staple work of Southern Gothic literature. Lee received acclaim, fame, and criticism from around the world as people fell in love with the characters and the message of compassion and equality; on the opposite hand, Southerners responded with anger and staunch defense of their Jim Crow system. Lee created one of the most memorable and beloved American protagonists, Atticus Finch, an older father and attorney wh...