# What has Harper Lee been doing for the last 48 years?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 8, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698 "2008-07-08T15:30:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698/41 "2008-07-12T21:20:27Z")

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It might have been marginally acceptable for her to write a mediocre second novel in the late 1960s, but by now expectations are so absurdly high that I can’t imagine her writing much of anything that her fans didn’t view as a terrrbile disappointment.

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**Author:** ![mmouse9799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mmouse9799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmouse9799)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698/42 "2008-07-13T14:56:50Z")

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I had a lit. professor in college who has done a pretty large amount of post grad work on Harper Lee and TKAM. She believes that when Harper Lee dies, her heirs will find a bunch of other works while sorting through her things. My professor had the theory that while HL chose to stop publishing, she did not stop writing.

I have neither proof of this nor cite for it, but I thought it might make an interesting talking point.

So, do you think there will be more books by HL published posthumously?

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698/43 "2008-07-13T16:12:40Z")

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That would certainly be a swell way to take care of your heirs, to give them a supply of high-demand source material they could trickle out over the years.

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-harper-lee-been-doing-for-the-last-48-years/455698/44 "2008-07-13T21:17:39Z")

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You could write a good book about a famous novelist with one great book in them and how they spend their life.

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