Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.
Her first name is Nelle - her grandmother’s name
spelled backward - but when To Kill a Mockingbird, her first
novel, was ready for publication, she opted for the name
“Harper Lee” on the cover, because she didn’t want to be
misidentified as “Nellie.”
Lee was unprepared for the amount of personal attention
associated with writing a bestseller. Ever since, she has
led a quiet and guardedly private life in New York.
