|
Nelle (Harper Lee's first name), is her grandmother's name Ellen, spelled backwards.
|
|
Harper Lee and Truman Capote were best friends as children. Both had difficult childhoods.
|
|
In high school Harper Lee began to develop an interest in literature. She had little interest in dating, makeup, or fashion.
|
|
Harper Lee was a member of the Huntington College literary honor society.
|
|
At the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa Harper lee pursued her writing interest and was a contributor to the school newspaper the Rammer Jammer. She was eventually given the title of editor.
|
|
After leaving the University of Alabama to pursue her writing career, she worked in New York City as an airline ticket agent.
|
|
In New York City Harper Lee reunited with Truman Capote, who was a rising literary star.
|
|
Harper Lee became friends with the Broadway composer Michael Martin Brown and his wife.
|
|
While living in New York in 1957 Harper Lee's friends Michael and Joy Brown gave her the gift of one years' wages so that she could write instead of having to go to work.
|
|
Harper Lee helped her friend Truman Capote to write his article that would appear in The New Yorker, an article that would lay the groundwork for his masterpiece Cold Blood.
|
|
To Kill a Mockingbird would remain Harper Lee's only published novel until 2015 when a sequel of sorts to the first book is scheduled to be released. Its release was announced in February, 2015.
|
|
Harper Lee received many honorary degrees after the success of To Kill a Mockingbird. She accepted the degrees but did not make speeches.
|
|
In 1999 To Kill a Mockingbird was voted the "Best Novel of the Century' in a Library Journal poll.
|
|
To Kill a Mockingbird was a coming-of-age story that reflected racial prejudice and rape in a small town in the South. It was loosely based on an incident that occurred in Harper Lee's town when she was 10.
|
|
Harper Lee's new book, takes place 20 years after the story in To Kill a Mockingbird. The new book is to be titled Go Set a Watchman.
|
|
To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted into film in 1962, and the book has sold more than 40 million copies around the world.
|
|
Each year To Kill a Mockingbird sells approximately one million copies.
|
