Capote, Truman

Truman Capote was born in New Orleans as Truman Streckfus Persons. His father, Arch Persons, was a young chancer who later proved to be a failure and a conman. Capote's mother, Lillie Mae Faulk, was only eighteen when her son was born, and she soon tired of her husband's attempts at persuading her that their fortune would soon be made. Unfortunately, she also got tired of her son. Truman was instead raised by his aunts in Monroeville, Alabama, where the girl next door was called Harper Lee. She has given an unforgettable account of Capote as a young man, the character Dill in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird.