In 1960 Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird was first published. Interviewers were stunned when they first met Harper Lee, after reading this novel. They often felt as if they were coming face to face with a grownup version of Scout Finch, the six-year old of the novel. Her features at thirty-five marked her as a former tomboy. Harper Lee was born in 1926, she would have been the same age as Scout during the time this story took place. She grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, a place much like the town of Maycomb described in this novel. Harper Lee's father, Amasa C. Lee was a small town lawyer with an unusual first name. Just like Atticus Finch in this novel.

Harper Lee attended the University of Alabama and spent a year in England as an exchange student at Oxford University. In 1950, she quit law school and moved to New York, and starting her dream career devoting her time to writing. Much of the background information for the novel came from Lee's childhood experiences; the plot was mostly all from her imagination. In 1957, she finally finished

The third quote is, "Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between," that was said by Scout. This is an example of customs that are typical in the south.

the rough draft for To Kill A Mockingbird. The first editor turned it down; she spent much of two and a half more years reworking it. Finally in 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird was ready for publication. This book was a real success with readers young and old as well as the reviewers. The movie rights were sold immediately. In 1961, Lee's success was crowned with a Pulitzer Prize for fiction, making her the first woman to win the award since 1942.

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Approximate Word count = 1645
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)