Byung Kim
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author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird
Introduction to To Kill a Mocking Bird Top
This poignant story takes place in rural American South during the Depression Era and courageously takes on the issue of racial prejudice. Atticus Finch, an unforgettable lawyer and widowed father of two impressionalbe children, defends a young black man who has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman. In a town where the prevailing attitude is anti-black, it is up to Atticus to bring his client, his children, and the towns people thorugh the trial process to a new understanding of tolerance of humanity. This novel handles an emotionally charged issue with a respect and dignity that will leave the reader with a clearer awareness of himself and the world. It was later made into a movie in 1962 that won an Oscar for best actor with Gregory Peck.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28 1926 in Monroeville Alabama, a city of about 7,000 people in Monroe County, which has about 24,000 people. Monroeville is in southwest Alabama, about halfway between Montgomery and Mobile.
She is the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Harper Lee attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at 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 order to concentrate on writing Harper Lee gave up her position with the airline and moved into a cold-water apartment with makeshift furniture. Her father's sudden illness forced her to divide her time between New York and Monroeville, a practice she has continued.
In 1957 Miss Lee submitted the manuscript of her novel to the J. B. Lippincott Company. She was told that her novel consisted of a series of short stories strung together, and she was urged to re-write it. For the next two and a half years she re-worked the manuscript with the help of her editor, Tay Hohoff, and in 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird was published, her only published book. In 1961 she had two articles published: "Love - In Other Words" in Vogue, and "Christmas To Me" in McCalls. "Christmas To Me" is the story of Harper Lee receiving the gift of a year's time for writing from friends. When Children Discover America was published in 1965.
In June of 1966, Harper Lee was one of two persons named by President Johnson to the National Council of Arts. Also named to the 26 member council was artist Richard Diebenkorn Jr.
There has not been as much published on the doings of Harper Lee since 1966. Apparently she still plays golf, and there are various reports of her writing her memoirs, or a book on a murder in Alabama. She will celebrated her 73rd birthday on April 28.
 | Harper Lee was born as Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. |
| A black man wrongly accussed of rape on a white woman was said to be defened by Harper Lee's father, Amasa Coleman Lee, which many people think, led to the creation of this novel. |
| To Kill a Mocking Bird is the only published book written by Harper Lee. |
| Harper Lee is still alive and will turn 73 on April 28. |