When I heard the
news, I couldn’t believe it. It's been more than half a century since To Kill A Mockingbird came out.
I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to reading “the parent book,” of Mockingbird, even though this book, called Go Set a Watchman, is not new. Harper Lee wrote it in 1950, before she wrote the masterpiece that earned her a Pulitzer Prize, according to reports.
Mockingbird continues to be a bestseller. The movie adaptation won Academy Awards in 1962. Gregory Peck won for best actor. Lee gave Peck her father's pocket watch, a friend in Monroeville, Alabama told me.
Lee's old/new book examines racial unrest in the South and the relationship
between an adult Scout and her father.
It has been reported, Lee put Watchman aside to write Mockingbird, after an editor suggested she rewrite the manuscript from the viewpoint of Scout as a girl. Lee followed the editor's advice and produced Mockingbird.
She thought the draft
of Watchman had been lost until her friend and lawyer Tonja Carter found it.
The draft had been attached to the original typed manuscript of Mockingbird. Carter didn’t know what she’d
found at first.
Tonja Carter is a
charming woman, despite what some reporters have written. I had the pleasure of meeting Carter during one of my business trips
to Monroeville, Alabama, where both books are set.
Through my day job with
a national publishing company, I've traveled quite a bit and worked with the
Monroeville-Monroe County Chamber of Commerce on community profile projects. I
always enjoy returning to this lovely, literary town, population about 7,000. Sandy Smith, the Chamber's executive and I have
been friends for almost 20 years.
But in all my years
of traveling and working there, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Harper
Lee. Locals call her “Miss Nelle,” and they respect her need for privacy. She now lives in an assisted living home in
Monroeville.
Thankfully, I've had the
privilege of meeting her older sister Alice Finch Lee. She practiced law until
she was almost 100. She has since passed, but she lived to be 103. She never married, nor has “Miss Nelle.”
Alice Finch Lee was "Atticus in a skirt,” the Rev.
Thomas Butts said. He was referring to Mockingbird’s
hero Atticus Finch. Rev. Butts has been a close friend of both Alice Finch and Harper Lee. "Miss Nelle" dedicated Mockingbird
to Alice and their father, Amasa Lee.
The father defended
two black men who were hanged in 1919 for murdering a white shopkeeper in Monroeville.
In 1934, when “Miss
Nelle” was only eight, a black man (Walter Lett) was tried in Monroeville for
allegedly raping a white woman. Lett was sentenced to death until a group of progressive
white citizens had his ruling reduced to life.
The character Tom
Robinson in Mockingbird is thought to be patterned after Lett.
Through the years,
I’ve heard a few people say they think Truman Capote wrote Mockingbird. These accusations are false, which I discovered after
reading Capote’s letters at the Monroe County Courthouse. In one of those
letters, Capote writes about Lee authoring the book and compliments her skill as a writer.
It is widely
known that Lee helped Capote interview and type notes for In Cold Blood. She and Capote were childhood friends in the 1930s.
Capote spent his summers with his cousins in a house next to where Lee grew up.
(The character Dill in Mockingbird is
Capote, it is believed).
Both houses have
since been torn down, but there’s a plaque, marking where Capote stayed. Lee
would not allow a plaque on the property where she once lived.
The homes were located
about two blocks from the old courthouse, which is now a museum. (The courthouse is in the center of town square).
Many of my
Monroeville acquaintances have generously shared their stories of Harper Lee with me.
One of those friends is Rev. Butts.
He hung out with "Miss Nelle" when she used to venture to New York.
While in the city,
she preferred to take the bus, rather than a taxi, he said, and despite her success, she and her sister didn’t own a television or air conditioning until their
elderly years when a caretaker required those comforts.
Butts said “Miss
Nelle” is shy, but not a recluse. Every couple of weeks he picks her up and
takes her where she wants to go. I’ve been tempted to ask him to introduce her
to me, but decided it would be wrong to ask him to betray her request for
privacy.
One day, while in
Monroeville, I took Rev. Butts to lunch. He wanted to go to a restaurant in
Repton, Alabama, near where he grew up. Repton is on the outskirts of Monroeville.
He asked me to drive.
When we arrived in Repton, he told me to “slow down.”
Then he proceeded
to tell me about the time he and “Miss Nelle” were on an excursion. He was driving and failed to observe the speed limit.
A patrolman pulled
them over.
Lee said, “Put on
your collar.”
Rev. Butts did as
she instructed, he said.
And he didn’t get a
ticket.
Harper Lee is
almost blind now, and deaf and bound to a wheelchair, he said. Her short-term
memory isn’t good, but she remembers him. They have much in common in their
battle against racial prejudice. Butts had the misfortune of having a cross
burned in his yard.
His recounts of that time, helped me imagine a burning cross,
which I included in my latest novel, A
Message in the Roses.
Butts said Lee once
asked him, “You ever wonder why I never wrote anything else?”
“Maybe you didn’t
want to compete with yourself,” he offered.
“Bullshit,” she
told him. “I wouldn’t go through the pressure and publicity I went through for
any amount of money. I have said what I wanted to say and will never say it
again.”
Makes me wonder
what she thinks about the rediscovery of Go
Set a Watchman. It has been called “brilliant” enough to print two million
copies.
After the news about Watchman came out, there has been controversy, as to whether Lee actually made certain statements and approved of the book's publication.
In a separate dispute, a lawsuit was filed, a year or so ago, on Lee's behalf, against the son-in-law of her former agent, who is said to have assumed the agenting responsibilities for Lee. The suit stated he attempted to steal the copyright to Mockingbird.
Another suit was filed on Lee's behalf against the old courthouse museum in Monroeville over merchandise sold in the museum's gift shop.
But the question remains: Is she pleased with the release of Watchman?
I hope so. It's been a long time in coming.
In the meantime, I hope to locate my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and reread it before Watchman comes
out.
My latest novel, A Message in the Roses, is free today and tomorrow, Feb. 21-22. Snap it up: http://www.amazon.com/Message-Roses-Sandy-Semerad-ebook/dp/B00LROV17O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1405896778&sr=8-3&keywords=sandy+semerad
I toyed
with the idea for months, I browsed through hair pictures, then one day I
stumbled onto a woman with short purple and blue hair. I reminded me of the northern
lights. It was gorgeous...and daring. I showed the picture of the woman to my
granddaughter. She loved the blue with the purple, so mid-December, I told my
hairdresser to work her magic. The pic is me. The new “daring” me.
People’s
reactions were across the spectrum. “You’re brave” – “I want hair
like yours” – “Why? But why?” – “You’re
bold” – “I love it” – “It’s pretty” – “Wow...” (Many different nuances of wow) – “Don’t worry, your hair will grow back” (I don't want it to grow back...) – “How
long is that going to last?” (Hopefully many many months) – “Don’t let my wife see you or she’ll do it too” –
“It’s your hair” – “It looks better than I thought it would” 
Do someone
people think I’m weird? Probably, but in all fairness, I am weird. I write
mystery novels and I kill at least one person per book. It does qualify as
weird, but deep down, I’m the same person I have always been. Still, I got to
interact with lots of new people because I dared color my hair purple and blue.
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