Mockingbird One

It's quite amazing that this biography was written at all. Nelle Harper Lee rarely gives any kind of interview anymore, and had the uncanny ability of not revealing much when she did give them. She isn't really a recluse, but cherishes her privacy. So the author had to rely on previously published material, interviews from anyone who knew her, and investigative journalism.

Even after reading the biography, I don't feel that I know Harper Lee much better than before. But I do know more about the writing of her incredible novel and the film adaptation. I will focus in this entry on Harper Lee herself.

• She grew up in Monroeville, Alabama in quite a bigoted climate with Klan membership and mentality being quite common. Her father was the owner of the town newspaper as well as a well-respected lawyer. Her mother was emotionally unstable and never really connected with Nelle. Perhaps this is why there is no mother in To Kill A Mockingbird (hereafter TKAM). The author thinks she probably put a lot of her feelings about her mother into her character Aunt Alexandra. "Aunt Alexandra would have been analogous to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there."

• Her neighbor and dear childhood friend was none other than Truman Capote, who I've always thought of as a weird little man. Ivan does a great impression of him. Nelle was very much a tomboy and she and Truman roamed the town much as the three characters in her book. Her father gave them a 20 lb. typewriter so they could write their stories down. She and Truman spent hours doing just that.

• She attended Huntingdon College for a time and then entered law school with the hope of getting her degree and joining her father's law firm like her older sister Alice had. Interestingly, the motto of Huntingdon College is "Enter to grow in wisdom, go forth to apply wisdom in service." Sound familiar? Her heart really wasn't in law and so she headed off to New York to work and write. Dear friends gave her, as a Christmas gift, enough money to pay for living expenses for one year. This enabled her to quit her day job and write full time. Without that gift, TKAM may not have happened.

• She assisted Truman Capote in writing his book In Cold Blood, which details the horrific Kansas murders of a farm family by two drifters fresh out of jail. It's considered one of the first investigative true crime books published. Truman gave her little credit for her efforts and, in fact, may have been jealous of her success. Their relationship was strained as he slid into drugs, drinking and the homosexual world. They did remain friends up until his death, however.

• Nelle has funded many scholarships anonymously and "many have attended college without knowing she was the benefactor."

• She is still alive...or was at the time of the book, living some time in New York and most of the time in Monroeville with her sister, Alice (who is in her 90s). She makes occasional appearances but only on her terms.

Why were there no more books written by her? The author doesn't really know, but as I read and thought about it, I came to the conclusion that she must have been overwhelmed by all the publicity she received for TKAM. How often does a first novel win a Pulitzer? How do you top that? Imagine the pressure. There seemed to always be something preventing her from writing more. She helped Truman with his book. There were interviews galore. Time passed. Even decades. The idea of it all seemed to just fade away. TKAM was a one-hit wonder, but what a hit and what a wonder!