Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in the town of Monroeville, Alabama. She was born as the youngest of four children to her parents, Amasa and Frances Lee. Lee's childhood was very similar to the Scout character in To Kill a Mockingbird, mainly in her hometown's similarity to the town of Maycomb, the fact that her father was a lawyer just like Atticus Finch, and that her childhood friend, novelist Truman Capote, was the inspiration for Dill. In 1944, Lee attended Huntingdon College for two years, then studied for a law degree at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949, and finally studied for one year at Oxford University. .
After finishing college, Lee worked with Eastern Airlines as a reservation clerk in New York City. When Lee decided to devote more of her time to writing, she quit Eastern and moved into an apartment. In 1957, Lee sent the manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird to the J.B. Lippincott Company, who told her to rewrite the novel because she originally wrote it as a series of short stories strung together. In 1960, after Lee re wrote the book, To Kill a Mockingbird was published, which became Lee's only published book. After To Kill a Mockingbird's success, Lee has received many awards and much acclaim from the public. This includes a 1961 resolution from the Alabama Legislature praising her for her success, being named to the National Council of Arts in 1966, an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama in 1980, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama in 1997. Since the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird , Lee has continued to lead a very private life, spending time in her hometown of Monroeville and in New York and still enjoys reading books. .