Meanwhile, the Browns speak eloquently in the documentary as Michael, a Broadway lyricist who performed in supper clubs around town, explains that in 1949 he received a letter from his friend Truman Capote, "in tiny, little handwriting," saying a friend of his was coming to New York and "would you kindly look after her." "All she would say about herself at parties was that she was from Alabama and working on a book." Her longed-for career as a writer was stymied by the need to pay the rent, and she was toiling away as an airline reservations clerk. Lee wrote about the evening for McCall's magazine after "Mockingbird" was published in 1960, recalling how she found an envelope addressed to her in the branches of the Christmas tree. They relate how they came to give Lee the gift of a year free to write without the need to earn a living. Merry Christmas,’ ” Ms. Lee recalled in a 1961 essay in McCall’s magazine in which she did not identify the Browns by name. “It’s a fantastic gamble,” Ms. Lee, in the words of her essay, told Mr. Brown. “It’s such a great risk.” 
 
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 “He looked at me,” the essay continued, “and said softly: ‘No, honey. It’s a sure thing.’ ” 
 
 The result, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was published in 1960, and for nearly a half-century afterward the Browns and Ms. Lee kept their secret. News of the gift — Ms. Lee insisted that it be a loan — came to light in 2006 with the publication of “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee,” a biography by Charles J. Shields. In fact, that first printing of "Mockingbird" fell at least 30 million copies short of the eventual demand. “Who in the world is going to buy 5,000 copies?” 
 
 According to its current publisher, HarperCollins, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has been translated into more than 40 languages and has sold 30 million copies worldwide, a sure thing if ever there was one.
– If it hadn't been for a New York City couple, the world might never have seen To Kill a Mockingbird. Its author, Harper Lee, was a ticket agent for British Overseas Airways in 1956, and it was difficult for her to find time to write with a separate full-time job, Ozy reports. She discussed this concern with her friends Michael and Joy Brown, a couple her friend Truman Capote had introduced to her. Michael, who died this year, worked as a writer of industrial musicals—performances, often with big budgets, that US corporations would produce to inspire their workers, the New York Times reports in his obituary. Michael Brown's work included, for example, a "Love Song to an Electrolux" and a DuPont musical called Wonderful World of Chemistry. The work brought in plenty of money, and at Christmas 1956, Lee found an envelope for her in the Browns' Christmas tree. "I opened it and read: 'You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas,'" she wrote in the 1960s, as the New York Daily News reported. Though she was reluctant to accept the gift—which she eventually repaid—the couple supported her during the period, allowing her to quit her job and write To Kill a Mockingbird. That gift's impact continues to reverberate, as the book still sells more than 750,000 copies per year, Ozy notes. (Lee, now 87, has had her fair share of trouble in recent years: She recently sued her agent as well as a museum in her hometown.)