Marja Mills is a journalist and author. Her memoir, The Mockingbird Next Door, was a New York Times bestseller. It tells the story of her friendship with Harper Lee and her sister Alice in their Alabama hometown. Mills was a reporter and feature writer for the Chicago Tribune, where she was a member of the staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for a series about O’Hare Airport entitled “Gateway to Gridlock.” Born and raised in Madison, she graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Before the pandemic, she lived in downtown Chicago. She is now ensconced in Black River Falls with family.
