Harper Lee passed away earlier this year at the age of 89, but death has not stopped the beloved Alabama author from doing what pretty much everyone else does these days: comment on Donald Trump.
Back in the summer of 1990, Ms. Lee was staying at Trump’s Taj Mahal hotel in Atlantic City. The author of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and ‘Go Set A Watchman’ wrote a letter to her friend Doris Leapard describing her visit – and she didn’t hold back.
“The worst punishment God can devise for this sinner is to make her spirit reside eternally at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City,” Lee’s scathing review said.
Ms. Lee visited the Trump Taj Mahal right after it opened, but the hotel was destined to be a failure. The Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy one year after Ms. Lee compared it to hell. Maybe she was on to something.
Though the letter is over twenty years old, it has come to light this week because it is up for sale at Nate D. Sanders Auction. Ms. Lee was an avid letter writer, even though she was an extremely private individual, and the auction has 29 of her letters for sale. The current bid for the letter mentioning the Taj Mahal is $1,330.
Harper Lee, who was born and spent most of her life in Monroeville, Alabama, remains one of the state’s most celebrated individuals. Her first book, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ published in 1960, was a worldwide success, winning a Pulitzer Prize and inspiring an Oscar-winning film version.
In 2007, President Bush honored Ms. Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
Just last year, Ms. Lee shocked the world by publishing her first book in over six decades. ‘Go Set A Watchman,’ which the New York Times called “the most important novel on race to come out of the white South in decades,” was another instant success.
Less than a year after ‘Watchman’ was released, Harper Lee passed away at the age of 89 in her hometown of Monroeville.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.