Attorney Alice Lee, sister of famed 'Mockingbird' author, dies at age 103
Alice Lee, reportedly the oldest practicing lawyer in Alabama until recently and the sister of famed author Harper Lee, died Monday after “her heart wore out,” according to a local minister. She was 103 years old.
Lee, who began practice in the 1940s in their father’s law office, still was involved in handling real estate matters at the same firm prior to her retirement in 2012, the Associated Press reports. Her knowledge of Monroeville property records was legendary, said executive director Keith Norman of the Alabama State Bar.
“Whenever there was a question in the community that no one could answer, the saying was, ‘Go ask Miss Alice,’” said retired minister Thomas Lane Butts of the United Methodist Church, where Lee served as a leader. “Her death is like the closing of a great library.”
Close to her sister, Harper Lee, author of famed trial novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Miss Alice was “Atticus Finch in a skirt,” AL.com reports, referring to the attorney who is a central character of the book.
“She set an example of being a woman who made it OK to be smart and to accomplish the most of what you needed to,” said former Monroe County Circuit Judge Dawn Hare. “She came prepared to do the right thing, wherever she was.”
“Miss Alice was a quiet sort of hero, a true Southern lady,” her law partner Tonja Carter, said in an email to Reuters. “Miss Alice’s Christian faith was her foundation, and she lived it in example to us all.”
Related coverage:
ABA Journal: “Meeting Miss Nelle: Ala. Lawyer Has a Rare Encounter with the Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’”
ABAJournal.com: “Still Practicing at 100, ‘Miss Alice’ Talks of Harper Lee and Working in Their Dad’s Law Firm”
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “Lawyer Alice Lee, sister of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ author, dies at 103”
