5th-Harper+Lee


 * Before "To Kill a Mockingbird" **

The life of Nelle Harper Lee began on April 28, 1926. She was born in Monroeville, Alabama and is the youngest of four children. Her parents are Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Her father was a lawyer, member of the Alabama legislature, and owned part of the local newspaper. Her mother, Amasa, suffered with a mental illness called bipolar disoder and never went out much. As a child Nelle was sort of a tomboy and didn't care much about her appearance. One of her closest childhood friends was Truman Capote. She often stood up for him because he would get picked on for the way he dressed. Throughout high school Nelle became very fond of her english class and developed an interest in writing. She graduated high school in 1944 and later was accepted into Hintingdon College in Montgomery, which is an all girl school. She kept to herself and didn't care much for a social life and stayed focused on literature. There, she was a member of the literary honor society and the glee club. She later transferred to the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa where she attempted to make friends by joining a sorority, but ended up being a loner and individualist. She became editor of UAL's newspaper and humor magazine, //The Rammer Jammer//. During her junior year of college, Lee was accepted into Oxford University in England where she studied law as an exchange student. Lee dropped out of Oxford six months early in order to go to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a writer.


 * During "To Kill a Mockingbird" **

In 1949, at the age of twenty-three, Lee worked as an airline ticket agent for Eastern Air Line and British Overseas Airways for many years. During this time, Lee struggled and was extremely poor. She also met up with her old friend, Truman Capote (who was a rising literature star) and also made friends with a broadway composer, Michael Martin Brown. In 1956, Lee's dream came true. Brown gave Lee a Christmas gift of supporting her for a year while she could write full-time. While Lee was busy writing, Brown found Lee and agent, Maurice Crain. Maurice Crain got a publishing firm interested in Lee's first novel called, "Go Set a Watchman" then "Atticus" and later named "To Kill a Mockingbird." The editor of "To Kill a Mockingbird," Tay Hohoff, finished the manuscript in 1959 and was then pulished.


 * After "To Kill a Mockingbird" **

Lee's novel was an immediate bestseller. In 1960, Lee's novel was favorited by the Book-of-the-Month-Club and the Literary Guild. In July 1961, Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for "To Kill a Mockingbird" along with other literary awards. In 1962, a movie was made based on her book by Horton Foote. The movie was also a huge success, earning eight Academy Award nominations and earning four awards. In mid 1960's Lee worked on a second novel, but it was never published. She Helped Truman Capote write his book "In Cold Blood" which was published in 1966. Even though Capote dedicated his book to Lee, she was angry with him for not giving her enough credit for the amount of work she had contributed to the work. Although she was angry with him, they remained friends. Later that same year, Lee accepted a post on the National Council of the Arts requested by President Johnson. Then, during the 1970's and 1980's Lee excluded herself from a public and social life. Lee did continue to write. Lee wrote a nonfiction book, "The Reverend" about an Alabama serial killer, but it was never published. Lee continues to stay away from the spotlight. She lives in both New York City and Monroeville, where she is involved in her church and community.