Renowned author Harper Lee dies at 89

Harper Lee, renowned American novelist widely known for her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, has died. She died in her sleep on the morning of February 19, 2016, aged 89, in her home in Alabama.

In a statement, Lee's family said, "The family of Nelle Harper Lee, of Monroeville, Alabama, announced today, with great sadness, that Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing. The family is in mourning and there will be a private funeral service in the upcoming days, as she had requested."

To Kill a Mockingbird was the only book she wrote but it was enough to immortalize her name.

It sold more than 40 million copies and became a mainstay on school syllabuses. It was turned into a movie in 1962, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.

May her soul rest in peace, amen.