Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee, better known by her pen name Harper Lee, was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. Additionally, Lee received numerous honorary degrees, though she declined to speak on those occasions. She...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth28 April 1926
CityMonroeville, AL
CountryUnited States of America
I think Ill be a clown when I get grown.. Yes, sir, a clown. There aint one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so Im gonna join the circus and laugh my head off Im gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks. Just looka yonder, every one of em oughta be ridin a broomstick.
I do much of my creative thinking while golfing. If people know you're working at home they think nothing of walking in for a cup of coffee, but wouldn't dream of interrupting on the golf course.
Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o'clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There's no hurry, for there's nowhere to go and nothing to buy...and no money to buy it with.
It's not necessary to tell all you know.
Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing.
I never expected any sort of success with 'Mockingbird'... I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement.
Things are never as bad as they seem.
I didn't expect the book to sell in the first place. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of reviewers but at the same time I sort of hoped that maybe someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected.
Southern lawyers don't read novels much.
Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?
I wonder how much of the day I spend just callin' after you.
Finders were keepers unless title was proven.
Way back about nineteen-twenty there was a Klan... The Ku Klux's gone... It'll never come back.
Mutual defiance made them alike.