Harper Lee dead: Author's acerbic response to journalist's letter sent to test her lucidity

Writer rejected reporter's request in very clear terms

Copies of Go Set A Watchman following its release (Getty Images)

Within days of news that a To Kill A Mocking Bird sequel novel would be released, speculation began that author Harper Lee may have been pressured into agreeing the deal.

Lee has died, aged 89, just over six months after the publication of the follow-up, Go Set a Watchman.

Rumours she may not have been the main driving force behind the new book were largely fuelled by her late sister, Alice, a lawyer who administered Lee’s affairs, who wrote in 2011: “Harper can’t see and can’t hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence.”

In a statement responding to the concerns, Lee said she was “happy as hell” with the plans.

And those seeking further evidence of her lucidity also pointed to correspondence with journalist Connor Sheets, who received a very acerbic response to his letter asking for details surrounding the new novel.

“I wrote a two-page letter to Harper Lee, following up on my repeated attempts to reach the beloved novelist via her lawyer, publisher and even by visiting her nursing home on the outskirts of Monroeville, Alabama,” Sheets wrote for Al.com.

While he hadn’t expected a reply, he hoped that Lee would be able to confirm she was “fully in control of the destiny of Go Set A Watchman” and that she would be able to “clear up all the questions the world has been waiting to have answered” about the circumstances of the book's release.

“On Wednesday, I received an envelope without a return address, made out to ‘Conner Sheets.,” he continued.

“I opened it without fanfare, only to find my letter, wrinkled and refolded, with four words and one punctuation mark scrawled in cursive Sharpie at the bottom: ‘Go Away! Harper Lee.’”

His story was supported by that of the New York Times. The publication wrote: “To those who chase her, who can't leave well enough alone, she has developed a standard response to their proposed interviews: 'Not just no, but hell no.'”

The novel was written before To Kill A Mockingbird but was rejected by publishers who set her to work on the novel that made her famous.

The new book revolves around the now-adult Scout's return to her native Alabama from New York to visit her father.

Lee previously said she had not realised the manuscript of her new book had survived and said she was “humbled and amazed” it was going to be published now.

Go Set A Watchman was published last July by William Heinemann, the original UK publisher of To Kill A Mockingbird.

A version of this article was published on 5 March 2015