To Kill a Mockingbird was written by a man.
Nelle Harper Lee ( April 28 , 1926February 19 , 2016 ) , better known by her pen name Harper Lee , was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird , published in 1960 . Additionally , Lee received numerous honorary degrees , though she declined to speak on those occasions . She was also known for assisting her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood ( 1966 ) . The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee 's observations of her family and neighbors , as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936 , when she was 10 years old . To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960 .