Truman Capote (1924-1984) was born Truman Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother neglected her baby son, often leaving him locked in a hotel suite while she went out, instructing hotel staff to ignore his screams.

She then left the child with Faulk relatives for around 4 or 5 years.

While living in Monroeville, Truman became friends with next door neighbour Nelle Harper Lee, who later became the author of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) using the name Harper Lee. Both children liked to read and write and shared estrangement from their mothers.

Truman’s mother married Joseph Capote in New York in 1931 and Joseph adopted Truman, who moved with the couple to New York in 1932.
Truman Capote started his working life as a copyboy for the New Yorker Magazine, but later received money from his stepfather to concentrate on writing fiction.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was published in 1958 and was adapted for film 3 years later. Capote never finished another novel after In Cold Blood (1966), a novel inspired by an unsolved murder in Kansas and which brought Capote considerable fame - and some infamy.