Harper Lee’s jaw-dropping net worth at the time of her death

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Harper Lee passed away on February 19, 2016, however, she left behind a lasting legacy.

Most high schoolers in America have grown up reading her groundbreaking book, To Kill a Mockingbird as part of their curriculum.

The novel tackled the subjects of racial injustice head on and was a staple in classrooms.

Harper passed away tragically from a stroke at 89. At the time, she had a net worth of $35 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.

Although she became a millionaire from her success, she initially came from humble beginnings.

The author was born in Alabama in 1926 and writer Truman Capote, who went by Truman Persons at the time, was a close childhood friend of hers.

Harper grew intrigued by writing thanks to her English literature class at Monroe County High School.

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She went on to attend Huntingdon College, which was an all-female school, where she was a member of the literary honor society. Only a year later she transferred to the University of Alabama in an effort to study law.

During her time there, she was a writer for her college’s newspaper called The Crimson White, as well as another paper called Rammer Jammer, which was a humor magazine.

She eventually became an editor for Rammer Jammer, but as her studies grew more intense over time at the law school, she had to leave the position.

That moment was a wakeup call for Harper who realized that her true passion was writing instead of law.

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Next, she attended the University of Oxford as an exchange student, and when she returned to college back in the States, she made the decision to leave school for good and drop out. She took a leap of faith at 23 by moving to New York City in 1949 to go after her writing goals.

Harper reconnected with Truman there, who introduced the aspiring novelist to his friends Michael Martin Brown, who was a Broadway composer and his wife Joy Brown.

For the couple’s selfless Christmas gift to Harper, they offered to financially support her for a whole year in order for her to solely focus on writing.

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During that time, she found a literary agent and began writing her popular novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

In 1960, she released the iconic book, which was translated to 40 different languages the following year.

Harper successfully sold over 40 million copies of the novel. In 2007, Harper was awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom award by then-President George W. Bush. In 2015, she debuted her book Go Set a Watchman.