Harper Lee: A Short Biography and Writing Career Essay

Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller To Kill a Mockingbird. As she is the youngest of four children, she grew up as a tomboy in her small small town. Her father was a lawyer, a member of the Alabama state legislature and also owned part of the local newspaper. For most of Lee's life, her mother suffered from mental illness, rarely leaving the house.
One of her closest childhood friends was Truman Capote. He went on to also be a writer coincidentally enough. Truman was often picked on by other kids so because Lee being the tomboy she was became sort of his protector. While the two friends were very different, they both had difficult home lives. Truman had to live with his mother's relatives in town after being abandoned by his own parents.
In high school, Lee developed an interest in English literature. After graduating in 1944, she went decided to go to Huntingdon College in Montgomery which was all-female. Lee really cared about her studies more so than most other students. Lee was a member of the literary honor society and the glee club at her college as well.
Transferring to the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Lee was known for being a loner and kind of a weird person. She did try to not be as much as a standout, joining a sorority for a time. While Lee was in college she helped and became apart of the school's newspaper and its humor magazine called the the Rammer Jammer. She eventually became the editor of the Rammer Jammer.
In her junior year, Lee was accepted into the university's law school, this allowed for students to work on law degrees while still pursuing undergraduates. After her first year in the law program, Lee began expressing to her family that writing not law was what she wanted to do with her life. She transferred to Oxford University in England that summer as an exchange student. Returning to her law studies that fall, Lee dropped out after the first semester. She then moved to New York City to follow her dreams to become a writer.
In 1949, at 23 years old Lee arrived in New York City. She had struggled for several years to find good pay or a good job. Because of this she ended up working as a ticket agent for Eastern Airlines and for the British Overseas Air Corp. While in New York, Lee was reunited with old friend Truman, who at this point was one of the more famous writers. She also befriended a Broadway composer and lyricist Michael Martin Brown.
In 1956, the Browns gave Lee alot of money for Christmas.. like alot enough for her to quit her job and begin full time in writing. The Browns also helped her find an agent named Maurice Crain. He was able to get the publishing firm interested in her work.