American author
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numerous accolades and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 which was awarded for her contribution to literature.[1][2][3] She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966).[4] Capote was the basis for the character Dill Harris in To Kill a Mockingbird.[5]
American author