Harper Lee
Author of "To Kill a Mockingbird"
About the Author
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Her mother, Frances Cunningham Finch Lee, was a homemaker. Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, practiced law. As a child, Harper Lee was an unruly tomboy much like the character of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. In high school Lee was fortunate to have a gifted English teacher, Gladys Watson Burkett, who introduced her to challenging literature and the rigors of writing well. Lee loved nineteenth-century British authors best, and once said that her ambition was to become "the Jane Austen of south Alabama." After college at the University of Alabama, Lee went to New York to pursue her writing.
She spent eight years working odd jobs before she finally showed a manuscript to Tay Hohoff, an editor at J.B. Lippincott. After two and a half years the novel was finally ready for publication. She chose the name "Harper Lee" for the cover, because she didn't want to be misidentified as "Nellie."
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 to highly favorable reviews and quickly climbed the bestseller lists, where it remained for eighty-eight weeks. In 1961, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize. To Kill a Mockingbird has sold more than thirty million copies in eighteen languages.
(neabigread.org)
Event Information
Release of Harper Lee's newest novel, "Go Set a Watchman"
When?
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2015, 08:00 AM
Where?
Books-A-Million, Cox Creek Parkway, Florence, AL, United States
To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Trailer