Harper Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 89. The beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird reminded humanity that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

Today, fans remember her immortal words—and her fearless spirit. In 1966, the Hanover County School Board in Virginia voted to remove all copies of To Kill a Mockingbird from the county’s school libraries, believing the novel about a white Southern lawyer fighting for justice for a black man was “immoral literature.”

When she was alerted to the decision, Lee responded with the letter below, which was written to and published by The Richmond News Leader. She questions the intelligence of the school board members, and then adding insult, donates money to enroll them in the first grade. The story is described in Understanding To Kill a Mockingbird.

With the letter, Lee included $10 for The News Leader’s Bumble Fund, which gave away free copies of To Kill a Mockingbird to children who wanted to read it. The fund was created by James J. Kilpatrick, the newspaper’s editor, “to redress ludicrous cases of patent injustice.”

Of the book, Kilpatrick wrote, “A more moral novel scarcely could be imagined.”

Many redditors agreed, and shared their own To Kill a Mockingbird stories.

The courage behind the book makes it even more cherished today.

See more discussions about Harper Lee’s life and legacy in Reddit’s Books community.