Writer Harper Lee gained fame for her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a story about justice and racism in a small town in the South. Published in 1960, the book has become a classic in American literature. It’s centered around a girl named Scout, her brother and father, their friend Dill, and other people in town dealing with the case of a black man who was accused of rape during the Depression in Alabama. The hero of the piece is Scout’s father Atticus, an honorable lawyer who defends the innocent man in a courtroom prejudiced against him. She infused elements of her own childhood in the book, using lyricism and memory to craft the novel.

She won a Pulitzer Prize for the novel, which was transitioned to the big screen in 1962. Gregory Peck played Atticus in the film and won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. Mary Badham starred as his daughter, Scout, Brock Peters played the accused man, Tom Robinson, and Phillip Alford played Atticus’ son, Jem.

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. While she was in high school, she became interested in English literature. After graduation she went to Huntingdon College in Montgomery for a year then transferred to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to study law. She wrote for the school newspaper but did not earn a degree.

After To Kill a Mockingbird she joined her friend, Truman Capote, to assist his research on the bestselling book In Cold Blood. In 2007, President George W. Bush presented her the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian award in the US. Then in 2010 President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts – the highest award given by the US government.

In 2015 her manuscript for Go Set a Watchmen was published by HarperCollins. Publication was controversial due to differences in Mockingbird characters that were not favorable, inconsistencies in the plot, and questions over whether Lee consented to the publication. Regardless, her fans were excited for a chance to read new material by the elusive author.

She died in her sleep at age 89 on February 19, 2016. Nearly ten years later, The Land of Sweet Forever short story collection was posthumously published in 2025. The book contains eight early short stories and eight previously published essays and magazine articles.