Alabama Agency Closes Author Harper Lee Elder Abuse Investigation

An investigation into potential elder abuse of the famous and reclusive author Harper Lee, now 88 years old and residing in assisted living, has been closed. Harper Lee, the well-known author of To Kill a Mockingbird made international headlines in February with the news that she would be publishing a new book. However, the news that Lee’s lawyer, Tonja Carter, declared that she had stumbled upon an unpublished manuscript of the novelist’s that was a forerunner to Mockingbird and, with the author’s agreement, it would be published as a book this summer by HarperCollins was met by some in her home town with concern about whether Harper Lee was able to give consent for the publication of Go Set a Watchman. Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg said that Lee was able to answer questions about the book to investigators’ satisfaction, and she seemed aware of what was happening with her book. On April 6, 2015, the Alabama Department of Human Resources confirmed the entire investigation has now been closed, with no findings of any abuse.