To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee was born in 1926 and grew up in the Southern town of Monroeville, Alabama. There, she became close friends with Truman Capote, who became a famous writer later. She went to Huntingdon College in Montgomery (1944–45), and then studied law at the University of Alabama (1945–49). When she went to college, she wrote for literary magazines, like Huntress and Rammer Jammer. At both colleges, she wrote short stories and other works about racial unfairness, which was not usually written about in colleges at the time. In 1950, Lee moved to New York City, where she worked as a clerk for British Overseas Airways Corporation. While she was there, she began writing essays and short stories about people in Monroeville. In 1957, Lee showed her writing to a literary agent whom Capote had told her about. An editor at J.B. Lippincott suggested to her that she should stop working at the airline and focus on writing instead. Her friends gave her money to help her continue writing for a year.