Wealthy couple Michael and Joy Brown gave their friend, Harper Lee, a year’s salary for Christmas in 1956 so she could quit her day job and write. This allowed her to write To Kill a Mockingbird, which has sold 30 million copies. Truman Capote helped with her non-fiction novel, and Lee lived modestly.
One of American literature’s classic novels might not have existed if it weren’t for two people you’ve never heard of. In 1956, wealthy couple Michael and Joy Brown gave their friend, an aspiring writer who worked as an airline ticket agent, a year’s salary for Christmas so she could follow her passion. The result? Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee had wanted to write for years, but like so many struggling and aspiring authors, she was too exhausted from her day job to concentrate. The Browns’ Christmas present gave her the time and freedom she craved, so she quit the airline and put pen to notebook, reportedly six to 12 hours a day. The Browns stepped in again after she finished the novel, putting her in touch with the agent who got it published in 1960. To date, To Kill a Mockingbird has sold 30 million copies in more than 40 languages.
An inside look at Harper Lee:
Truman Capote took Harper Lee, a childhood friend, to Kansas to help with the groundwork for her classic non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood.
Despite all the royalties she earned from her book, Lee continued to use a manual typewriter, never had air conditioning, and took her clothes to a laundromat for washing.
Harper Lee’s real name was Nelle, which was her grandmother’s name, Ellen, backwards; she never used it because she feared people would call her Nellie.
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