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Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee, best known for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the youngest of four children to parents Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. Her father was a newspaper editor, a lawyer, and served in the Alabama state legislature.
As a child, Harper Lee, a tomboy by nature, enjoyed reading and spending time with her friend and neighbor, Truman Capote. Her childhood was spent in Monroeville, but after graduating from high school, she moved on to Huntingdon College in Montgomery. During college Lee wrote for several student publications as well as acting as the editor for a school magazine. She also studied in Oxford, England, and worked towards a law degree.
Lee never completed her studies in law and eventually moved to New York in 1950. During this time she worked as a reservation clerk while she dedicated herself to writing. Lee lived a thrifty life in a cold-water-only apartment and traveled between New York and Alabama in order to take care of her father.
