Transcript Harper Lee

Harper Lee
•
•
•
•
•
Born: April 28, 1926
Monroeville, Alabama
Youngest of 4 children
A recluse
Still alive at age 88
and living in Monroeville.
Harper Lee
Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee was a
descendant of General Robert E. Lee.
He was a lawyer for the Alabama State
Legislature.
Her mother was rarely ever seen and it is
believed she suffered from bipolar disease.
Her name was Francis Cunningham Finch
and Harper uses all 3 names as characters
in her novel.
Harper Lee
Childhood:
• Her full name is Nelle Harper Lee. She was
named for her grandmother whose name is
spelled backward.
• Harper was a tomboy like the main character in
her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
• Her childhood friend was Truman Capote. He
grew up to become a very famous writer also.
Harper Lee
Harper and Truman’s Relationship
• Harper was stronger than most boys her
age and protected her friend, Truman.
• Truman was picked on for being a sissy
and wearing fancy clothes.
• Things in common: difficult home life.
• Truman lived with his relatives when he
was abandoned by his own parents.
Harper Lee
In 1959, Harper went to Kansas to help Truman
research his novel, In Cold Blood.
Credited with writing the nonfiction novel with this book.
Harper Lee
Inspiration for the Novel
• Her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama
• Her father’s law career and unsuccessful
defense of a black man and his son accused
of murder.
• The ongoing Scottsboro Trials
• Her friend, Truman Capote
Harper Lee
Atticus
• She first called this novel “Atticus”
• Atticus Finch is the father and lawyer in the
novel.
• He is named after Titus Pomponius Atticus,
a friend of the Roman orator Cicero who
was “a wise , learned and humane man”
according to Lee.
Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird is her first and only novel.
It was on the bestseller list for 88 weeks.
She won the Pulitzer Prize with her first novel!
Harper Lee received the
Presidential Medal of
Freedom in 2007 for her
outstanding contribution
to literature!