Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Lee stepped out of the limelight and stopped doing interviews years ago — and she never wrote another book. Still, her influence has far outlasted most writers of her generation.
In July 1960, J.B. Lippincott Company published "To Kill A Mockingbird," a story of social injustice, morals, and growing up in the Depression-era South.
It was the debut novel of a 34-year-old woman named Nelle Harper Lee, who dropped the "Nelle" from her pen name because she didn't want it to be mispronounced. Lee's book went on to become one of the most successful novels in American history.
"To Kill A Mockingbird" has sold more than 30 million copies, with another 100,000 flying off the shelves each year. The book has a place on virtually every Best Of, Greatest Novels, and Favorite Books list in existence.
The movie adaptation is a classic in its own right. The success of both guaranteed fame and financial security for the rest of Lee's life.
Lee wrote a book that has brought hope and tolerance to countless numbers of people. And as Atticus Finch reminded us with respect to the title's mockingbird, to harass a creature that brings nothing but joy is a sin.
Fifty years ago, Lee had the kind of success that most writers only dream about: Shortly after her novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," was published, it hit the best-seller lists. In 1961, it won a Pulitzer Prize, and in 1962, it was made into an Academy Award-winning film.
Further reading
Monroeville, AL: The Search For Harper Lee's Maycomb
by Monroe County Heritage Museums
Readings on "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Terry O'Neill (Editor)
"To Kill a Mockingbird": Threatening Boundaries
by Claudia Durst Johnson
Understanding "To Kill a Mockingbird": A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents
by Claudia Durst Johnson