OT: Harper Lee has died

[VAMike23]

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, has died. She was 89.

LINK

“I never expected any sort of success with ‘Mockingbird,’ ” Ms. Lee told a radio interviewer in 1964. “I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers, but, at the same time I sort of hoped someone would like it well enough to give me encouragement.” Instead, she said, “I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I’d expected.”

Hers was a pretty unique career, really - she wrote an outstanding book whose place in American cultural history was cemented by an equally outstanding motion picture, and that was all. I know she apparently wrote the earlier novel [Go Set a Watchman] and some other things, but she basically stopped writing after Mockingbird, at least as far as I know.

But what a great contribution it was!

 

[Sargassoc]

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, has died. She was 89.


But what a great contribution it was!

View attachment 12055

It was, wasn't it? Sigh.

 

[Icebear]

Loved the book in high school and the movie, as well.

 

[trb123]

My son had to read Mockingbird in 8th grade and again in 9th grade. I had to help him with his homework.
Difficult but rewarding.

 

[Zorro]

I loved it so much that I have not read and will not read the Watchman. I have read a little bit about it, and I prefer Atticus just as he was.

 

[VAMike23]

I believe a great many school districts nationwide still have Mockingbird in their curricula.

It makes me glad.

 

[VAUConnFan]

She grew up with Truman Capote. There was a little boy early in the movie, the character of whom was based on young Truman.

 

[VAMike23]

American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movie Heroes of All Time
[LINK to AFI website]

1

Atticus Finch
(in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD)
- Gregory Peck

2

Indiana Jones
(in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK)
- Harrison Ford

3

James Bond
(in DR. NO)
- Sean Connery

4

Rick Blaine
(in CASABLANCA)
- Humphrey Bogart

5

Will Kane
(in HIGH NOON)
- Gary Cooper

6

Clarice Starling
(in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS)
- Jodie Foster

7

Rocky Balboa
(in ROCKY)
- Sylvester Stallone

8

Ellen Ripley
(in ALIENS)
- Sigourney Weaver

9

George Bailey
(in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE)
- Jimmy Stewart

10

T. E. Lawrence
(in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA)
- Peter O'Toole

 

[Sargassoc]

She grew up with Truman Capote. There was a little boy early in the movie, the character of whom was based on young Truman.

Dill.

And then Capote wrote Other Voices, Other Rooms, which features Idabell, who's based on Harper Lee.

 

[j66kicker]

I loved it so much that I have not read and will not read the Watchman. I have read a little bit about it, and I prefer Atticus just as he was.

Despite the reviews, I didn't think Atticus was that bad in "Watchman." Or at least better than anyone else in town. His approach to racial justice was more pragmatic than his daughter's (and probably a lot of other people's). He was finally able to explain it to her (and the reader). I still mainly remember him as the "Mockingbird" Atticus. Thought "Watchman" was a good (and quick/short) read - very insightful about those times.

 

[j66kicker]

She grew up with Truman Capote. There was a little boy early in the movie, the character of whom was based on young Truman.

She helped Capote with In Cold Blood too.

 

[UcMiami]

Watchman was actually a first (and rejected draft) of Mockingbird and not a separate novel, and there was quite a bit of controversy about it ever being published - she was already in a care home, and her sister who had managed her affairs had recently died.

Her career (or lack of one) is not too dissimilar to another iconic and single novel american author - JD Salinger, who did write a little more after Catcher in the Rye, but no more novels.

I think the overwhelming acclaim of a first novel can be terrifying and stunting to future endeavors. Joseph Heller is another example of a writer who took a very long time to revisit the novel as a literary form after a blockbuster first book. (Catch-22)

 

[Sargassoc]

Watchman was actually a first (and rejected draft) of Mockingbird and not a separate novel, and there was quite a bit of controversy about it ever being published - she was already in a care home, and her sister who had managed her affairs had recently died.

Her career (or lack of one) is not too dissimilar to another iconic and single novel american author - JD Salinger, who did write a little more after Catcher in the Rye, but no more novels.

I think the overwhelming acclaim of a first novel can be terrifying and stunting to future endeavors. Joseph Heller is another example of a writer who took a very long time to revisit the novel as a literary form after a blockbuster first book. (Catch-22)

Well, Salinger had other writings-- some of which will be published this year and in the next five. He wrote; he just eschewed publishing.

 

[Blakeon18]

I read that when Capote went to Kansas to do research for In Cold Blood he brought along Harper because he was sure his
overall 'persona' would not resonate with the 'regular folks' in Kansas. They were very good friends
but had a serious falling-out at some point...perhaps due to jealousy over Lee's success with Mockingbird.