To Kill a Mockingbird: Biography: Harper Lee

Born in 1926, Harper Lee grew up in depression-era Monroeville, Alabama.  The youngest of four children, Lee followed her attorney father into law.  Lee attended the University of Alabama law school and spent the 1950's working for Eastern Airlines and writing short stories.  On the suggestion of her editor, Lee developed one of her short stories into her only novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960.  Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and spent 80 weeks on the bestseller list.  Translated into 40 languages with 30 million copies in print, Mockingbird's success also inspired the box office smash, To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck.  Lee published several essays in the early 1960s but, as a true literary recluse, has published nothing since then and refuses all requests for interviews.  Now 71, the elusive Lee divides her time between Monroeville and New York City.