To Kill a Mockingbird: Conspiracies Surrounding Harper Lee

**Discussion begins at 2:40**

Harper Lee published To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize the following year, and sell more than 40 million copies worldwide.  The coming of age story follows Scout and Jem Finch, as their father Atticus defends a falsely accused black man in 1930s Alabama.  The book was reportedly inspired by Harper Lee’s childhood memories from small town Monroeville, Alabama, where she lived next door to a young Truman Capote.  They remained best friends for many years.  However, following the publication of In Cold Blood in 1965,  Lee and Capote’s friendship began to disintegrate and Harper Lee became a bit of a recluse.  Apparently, Harper Lee was still “seen around town in sweatpants looking for bargains at a Dollar General Store, washing her clothes at a local Laundromat, drinking coffee at a McDonald’s”.  Was it resentment that Capote did not acknowledge Lee’s contributions to his work?  Or was it that Capote had actually written Lee’s one hit wonder and not received credit. 

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