Harper Lee

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Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book ''In Cold Blood'' (1966). Her second and final novel, ''Go Set a Watchman'', was an earlier draft of ''Mockingbird'' that was published in July 2015 as a sequel.

The plot and characters of ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family and neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama, as well as a childhood event that occurred near her hometown in 1936. The novel deals with racist attitudes, the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children.

Lee received numerous accolades and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, which was awarded for her contribution to literature.