Harper Lee was an American novelist best known for To Kill a Mockingbird, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and inspired an Oscar-winning film in 1962. The novel, drawing on her Alabama upbringing, addresses issues of race and class in the 1930s South. Lee also collaborated with Truman Capote on research for In Cold Blood. Her second novel, Go Set a Watchman, was published in 2015, and a collection of her short stories is set for release in 2025. She transformed her hometown of Monroeville into a universal reflection on justice, keeping discussions about Alabama’s classrooms and courthouses alive.