Nelle Harper Lee grew up during the Great Depression, and in a time where there was a lot of racism. A reviewer for ‘The New Yorker’ wrote,” Lee is a skilled, unpretentious, and totally ingenuous writer who slides unconcernedly and irresistibly back and forth between being sentimental, tough, melodramatic, acute, and funny” (Champion 124). Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 (Shields 3). She was the youngest of four children (Madden 29), and grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. She was known as Nelle by her friends and family. Harper was considered to be very much a tomboy and did not dress or act like the other girls her age, like her character Scout in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Harper was even given the nickname “Queen of Tomboys”, by her childhood friends. Harper Lee’s best friend as a child was Truman Capote, who later also became a famous author (Benard 53). Harper served as Truman’s bodyguard, and anytime someone tried beating Truman up, Harper would step in and defend him. This helped give Harper the reputation of being a bully (Shields 3). Harper graduated high school in 1944 (“Harper Lee Biography” 1). After high school, Harper attended Huntingdon College (Benard 16). In college Harper distinguished herself as a nonconformist and a ferocious independent (Shields 3), while also becoming an accomplished athlete in both soccer and volleyball (Bloom 76-80). After one year at Huntingdon College, Harper decided to transfer to the University of Alabama (Benard 17). While Harper was studying law at the University of Alabama, she was also involved in the college’s newspaper. Harper soon worked her way to becoming the editor (“Harper Lee Biography” 2). Six months before Harper would have finished law school, she decided to become a foreign exchange student at Oxford University, but only lasted for one semester. After attending Oxford University, Harper moved to New Your City to begin her writing career (Benard 17-23). Nelle Harper Lee is still
