Harper Lee, author of the 1960 classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” died yesterday at age 89, a tragedy that has affected a great number of people around the country.

Over the course of nearly 56 years, Lee has sold over 40 million copies of her novel, influencing many. Her famous classic has been present in middle school curriculum, allowing students to develop a deeper understanding of the racial injustice of the 1930s which was painted vividly throughout her novel.

After publishing her first novel, Lee remained outside of the public eye the majority of the time, refraining, for the most part, from communicating with the press. Last summer, however, she then published a second book, “Go Set a Watchman,” which took place 20 years after her first novel and included many of the same characters, which excited many.

Lee’s legacy will continue on, as “To Kill a Mockingbird” continues to hold great significance in society. Earlier this month, it was announced that the novel would be making a debut on Broadway in the near future, since Lee had recently passed on the rights to producer Scott Rudin and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

Junior Blake Stoner-Osborne remembers reading the book back in middle school. “We read the book in eighth grade and it was really good. It was more of an independent reading than a collaborative one so we started to discover how to analyze things on our own,” said Stoner-Osborne.