Full Name: Ms. Nelle Harper Lee
Date of Birth: April 28, 1926
Place of Birth: Monroeville, Alabama, USA
Died: N/A
Place of Death: N/A
Classification: Artists & Entertainers
Although her first and only released book To Kill a Mockingbird would win her worldwide literary fame, a Pulitzer Prize, and many honorary degrees, it is the desire of many to see what else this literary genius will release next. While her home has always been Monroeville, Alabama, she will sometimes frequent New York and public library functions across the country.
When she graduated from High School in Washington, she went to an all-female school in Montgomery then quickly transferred to the University of Alabama to go to law school. It was there that her literary development was molded by her work on different student-led publications. Before graduating, she attended school in Oxford, England where she decided not to study law anymore. She then moved to New York and worked as a clerk.
In 1956, she was given a year off from work after locating an agent who wanted to help her succeed. As she worked closely with editors, she had a first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, which was printed the following summer. In its first month after being released, it was a best seller. Its effect is so resounding that it was voted Best Novel of the Century in 1999.
Many historians have found that Harper Lee’s story is an autobiography of some experiences she had when she was young. At the centerpiece of the story is the plot that deals with the American legal system, which Lee would have known much about; her father was a successful lawyer and she studied law.
It is debated whether Harper Lee wrote the entire novel herself. Many critics believe she received help from Truman Capote, a close childhood friend, who had definitely looked at her manuscript, as revealed in a letter from Capote to his aunt. But, modern-day critics believe she wrote the book entirely herself (as Capote claims); the two have entirely different writing styles.
Lee never imagined the fame To Kill a Mockingbird would have on the world of fiction, but she decided from its initial success that she would limit her public appearances and speeches about her life and work. She continued working on two more books and as a collaborating investigator with Truman Capote as he researched In Cold Blood. Her own books, however, have not been released. Her latest was a book about a serial killer, but she decided not to pursue it. She was noted by Lyndon Johnson at the National Council of the Arts as on of the 20 th century’s best authors. She still lives between Alabama and New York and refuses most interviews
