harper lee receives presidential medal of freedom

I adore this woman beyond words. I’m actually getting teary eyed. That’s how big of a dork I am. And P.S. – doesn’t she look just like you’d imagine Scout to look at this age.

Author Harper Lee has been presented with America’s highest civilian honour – the Presidential Medal of Freedom – by President George W Bush for her outstanding contribution to literature. Her only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird – a plea for racial tolerance – won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.

Publicity Still from the 1962 Film: To Kill a Mockingbird

President Bush said medal recipients had “earned the respect of the American people” and held “a unique place in the story of our time”.

Lee, 81, stopped giving interviews after winning the Pulitzer Prize and seldom makes public appearances. In a rare article published in The Oprah Magazine last year, Lee said that in a society where technology prevails, “I still plod along with books”.