Brief Biography of Harper Lee

Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April in the year 1926. Born as the youngest daughter of a lawyer who is one of the members of the Alabama state legislature Harper Lee grew up as a tomboy. Lee’s mother was down with a mental illness which made her days mostly in the house, it is also believed that Lee’s mother was with bipolar disorder.

Lee also had a best friend by the name of Truman Capote. Being tougher than most boys, Lee stood up as Truman’s protector. Although this two of friends have very different interests, they both shared a commonality where they both have difficult house lives.

In 1944, Lee enrolled in an all-girl school, Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Lee stood out from most of her schoolmates as she was not into the makeup fever. She fully focused on her studies and was also a member of the literary honor society and the glee club. Lee then had her law degree in the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949.

After one year of law study, Lee began expressing to her family that her interests were not in law but was for writing. That summer, Lee went as an exchange student to the Oxford University in England. That fall, after returning from the exchange program, Lee dropped out of school after the first semester. She then moved to New York City to follow her dreams as a writer.

In 1949, the 23 years old Lee struggled for a few years and worked as a ticket collector for the Eastern Airlines and for the British Overseas Air Corp (BOAC). During her times in the city, Lee reunited with her old friend Truman, a literary rising star then, there. Lee also befriended Broadway composer and lyricist Michael Martin Brown and his wife Joy.

That Christmas, the Browns gave Lee an unforgettable present – a support to her for a year so that she can write full time. The Browns also introduced an agent by the name of Maurice Crain to her. Maurice got a publishing firm interested in Lee’s first novel Go Set a Watchman, which was then changed to Atticus, and at the end, To Kill a Mockingbird. Woking hand in hand with the editor, Tay Hohoff, Lee finished the manuscript in 1959.

After she finished her book, Lee started to help her friend, Truman with his books where they went to Kansas. After the return, Lee was thrilled when she knew that her book picked up by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Literary Guild. A small condensed version of the story also appeared on the ‘Reader’s Digest’. Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird also won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and several other literary awards.

Horton Foote also wrote a screenplay based on the story and the play was received extraordinarily well by the audience and earned eight Academy Award nominations. The book was also made into a film which won four awards.

During the mid-1960s, Lee was reportedly writing on a second novel which was never published. Lee helped Truman with his book, Cold Blood that was published in 1966. A rift was developed between the two friends Truman dedicated the book to Truman and his long time lover, Jack Dunphy but he failed to acknowledge Lee’s contributions to the book. Although Lee was hurt and very angry with what Truman did, they still remained for the rest of their lives.

That same year, Lee underwent a operation on her hand to repair a damage done on her hand by a bad burn. And from then on, Lee led a quite, private life in New York City and Monroeville. She usually avoids anything to do with her still popular novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.