Harper Lee

Harper lee

A. About the author.

·         She is an American author born on April 28, 1926. Her best book written was To kill a Mocking Bird where she was awarded the 1960 Pulitzer Prize. She was born in Monroeville, Alabama. She was also a tomboy and a precocious reader.

B. Biodata.

·         Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville Alabama.

·         Lee was the youngest of four children born to Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee.

·         She attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at the University of Alabama 1945-49, and studied one year at Oxford University.

·         In the 1950s she worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air Lines and BOAC in New York City.

·         In 1957 Lee submitted the manuscript of her novel to the J. B. Lippincott Company.

·         After being instructed to rewrite it, Lee worked on it for two and a half more years

·         In 1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Lee's only book, was published.

·         In 1961 she had two articles published: "Love --- In Other Words" in Vogue, and "Christmas To Me" in McCalls.

·         In June of 1966, Harper Lee was one of two persons named by President Johnson to the National Council of Arts.

C. Novels written by her.

·         "To Kill a Mockingbird." (1960)

·         "Christmas to Me". (December 1961)

·         "When Children Discover America". (August 1965).

·         "Cold Blood" (1966)

·         Capote and lee collaborated "The Long Goodbye" (mid-1980s)

D. Awards Received.

·         Pulitzer Prize (1961)

·         Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (1961)

·         Alabama Library Association Award (1961)

·         Bestsellers Paperback of the Year Award (1962)

·         Member, National Council on the Arts (1966)

·         Best Novel of the Century, Library Journal (1999)

·         Alabama Humanities Award (2002)

·         ATTY Award, Spector Gadon & Rosen Foundation (2005)

·         Los Angeles Public Library Literary Award (2005)

·         Honorary degree, University of Notre Dame (2006)

·         American Academy of Arts and Letters (2007)

·         Presidential Medal of Freedom (2007)

E. Why was TKAM a significant novel to her?

·         To Kill a Mockingbird was written and published amidst the most significant and conflict-ridden social change in the South since the Civil War and Reconstruction. Inevitably, despite its mid-1930s setting, the story told from the perspective of the 1950s voices the conflicts, tensions, and fears induced by this transition.