Harper Lee, whose debut novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, immortalized her name with its story of justice and race in a small southern town and became a classic masterpiece of American literature, passed away on Friday, (Feb. 19).
She died in her sleep early morning in her home in Alabama. She was 89, CNN reported.
Published in 1960, Mockingbird was translated into more than 40 languages and adapted into an Oscar-winning film of the same name starring Gregory Peck in 1962. The title also won the Pulitzer Prize and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
Fifty-five years after writing Mockingbird, Lee published her second novel ‘Go Set a Watchman’ last July. The book became one of the best sellers of the year.
Novelist Philosopher
Italian author Umberto Eco, famous for the novels ‘Foucault’s Pendulum’ and ‘The Name of the Rose,’ also died on Friday.
Eco, 84, was the recipient of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary award, was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French government, and was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
He studied medieval philosophy and literature at the University of Turin. Though Eco was probably best known for his novels, he wrote and taught philosophy for many years, exploring such disciplines as semiotics and linguistics, among others.
His debut novel ‘The Name of the Rose’, published in 1980, is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery. It was adapted into a movie of the same title starring Sean Connery in 1986.
