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The Life of Nelle Harper Lee Essay

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The Life of Nelle Harper Lee

On April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee was born to Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Along with her siblings, Alice, Louise, and Edwin, Harper was educated in Monroeville Public Schools before going on to attend Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. After a year at Huntingdon, Lee decided to follow in the footsteps of her father and began studying law at the University of Alabama in 1945 [2]. She left there to study abroad at Oxford University, Wellington Court in England [4]. After returning to the United States, she continued her education at the University of Alabama. However, in 1950, six months prior to completing her law degree, Lee moved to New York hoping to begin …show more content…

The following year, To Kill a Mockingbird was made into an award-wining film staring Gregory Peck as Atticus. The book was also chosen as a Reader's Digest Condensed Book, a Book-of -the-Month book, and a Literary Guild Selection. Outside of the United States, the book was just as successful. In Great Britian, for example, it remained on the bestsellers list for many months and was selected as the British Book Society Top Book of the Year. In addition to this, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into several foreign languages [3].

Over the years, Harper Lee has received several awards for her writing abilities. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Lee to the National Council of Arts [1]. In 1990, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alabama. Seven years later, Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, awarded Lee with an honorary doctorate of human letters for her "lyrical elegance, her portrayal of human strength, and wisdom" [2].

Harper Lee's career as a writer has been limited since the publication of her critically acclaimed novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1961, she published two essays: "Love-In Other Words" and "Christmas to Me." Four years later, "When Children Discover America" was published [3]. Another essay, "Romance and High Adventure," was presented by Harper Lee in 1983 at the Alabama History and Heritage Festival in Eufala, Alabama [2].

Today,

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