Name : Aaliyah McCurchin Grade: 11 Science

Subject: English Literature 03/09/2019

Biography of Harper Lee

When was Harper Lee born?
Harper Lee (in full Nelle Harper Lee- her grandmother’s name spelled backwards) was born on
April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, U.S. She was the daughter of Frances Cunnigham
(housemaker) and Amasa Coleman Lee, who was a lawyer as well as an owner and editor of a
former newspaper who was by every account more like the hero-father of her novel in his sound
citizenship and warmheartedness. The plot of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is based in part on his
unsuccessful youthful defense of two African American men convicted of murder.
Harper Lee did her graduation from Monroe County High School and got interested in English
Literature. She was at Huntingdon College for a year and then shifted to studying law at the
University of Alabama, but she did not receive a degree. She was also an exchange student at the
University of Oxford for a summer in 1948 where she became interested in Legal Studies.
She left for New York City and worked as an airline reservationist but received financial support
from friends that allowed her to write full-time. Later on, Harper Lee was able to transform a
series of short stories into the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ with the help of an editor.
The life and work of Nelle Harper Lee
The private life of Harper Lee is unknown and there is no record of her ever getting married or
having an affair. She was wholly engrossed in her work and known to be single until her death.
She devoted her life to work.
When Harper Lee was shifted to New York City in 1949 for becoming a writer and worked as a
ticket agent for BOAC, Lee was reunited with her childhood friend Truman Capote and then
came in touch with the Broadway famous Michael Martin Brown and his wife Jay. They gave
her the chance to write and she took the opportunity to write the famous novel, ‘To Kill A
Mockingbird’ which was published in 1960. Another novel, ‘Go Set A Watchman’ was written
in 1950 which got released in 2015, which was the sequel to her previous novel. Harper Lee died
on 19th February, 2016.
Harper Lee got the esteemed Pultizer Prize in 1961 for her literature. She was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom for her significant involvement in the writing. Lee got many
prestigious honorary degrees for her contribution to literature.