Emma Keeling – Content Editor
Harper Lee is a common household name known as the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. She was born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28th, 1926 in Alabama and was the youngest of four children. She attended Monroe County High School and developed an interest in English literature. After graduating in 1944, she attended the all-female Huntingdon College in Montgomery and later transferred to the University of Alabama to study law for several years. Lee moved to New York city in 1949 and took a job as an airline reservation agent so that she could write in her spare time.
Finally, in the spring of 1957, she handed over the manuscript for Go Set a Watchman (later To Kill a Mockingbird) to her agent, and later life-long friend, Maurice Crain, to send out to publishers. It landed in the hands of Tay Hohoff at J. B. Lippincott Company who was impressed immediately. After three years of going back and forth, To Kill a Mockingbird was published on July 11, 1960 and was an instant bestseller.
To Kill a Mockingbird was and is still widely used as a teaching tool in middle and high schools across the country due to its many relevant themes, including southern life and racial inequalities, class, gender roles, courage, and compassion. Jean “Scout” Finch tells her life story between 1933-35 in her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama living with her older brother Jem and widowed, lawyer father, Atticus. A controversial court case and a seemingly strange neighbor nicknamed “Boo” are the center of the two children and their friend Dill’s world during this time. Many people believe that To Kill a Mockingbird is a sort of autobiographical novel based on Lee’s life, but Lee stated that it was not, and that she simply wrote truthfully about what she knew. However, there are many parallels between her own life and that of Scout; for instance, her father was indeed widowed and a lawyer like Atticus and she had an older brother, like Jem.
Lee’s one other novel, Go Set a Watchman, was controversially published in July 2015. This novel, initially the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, later became an Atticus-focused sequel to the novel and includes many of the same passages and characters. It came as a bit of a surprise to the world that Lee would openly choose to publish another book, as she was so adamant throughout her life that she would never write another piece. This later raised concern about whether or not Lee was competent enough to agree to the publication due to her declining health. After investigation, it was found that she was competent to agree and was said to be happy about the publication. However, many of her friends claim she wouldn’t have wanted this and there was indeed deception.
After 89 years of life, Nelle Harper Lee died in her sleep on the morning of February 19, 2016 in Monroeville, Alabama. Throughout her life, Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961 for To Kill a Mockingbird, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, the Quill Award for Audiobook for To Kill a Mockingbird in 2007, and the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction for Go Set a Watchman in 2015. She has touched the hearts of millions with her story and will continue to for many years to come.
Emma Keeling is a third-year student at BGSU studying Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Her favorite genres of books include mystery and horror and her favorite author is Stephen King. She can usually be found curled up on the couch studying, reading, or watching movies. To easily contact Emma, email her at emmamk@bgsu.edu.
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