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Showing Original Post only (View all)4 Awesome Things Harper Lee Did After 'Mockingbird' [View all]
1. ROASTED A SMALL-MINDED SCHOOL BOARD
In 1966, a Virginian school board elected to remove all copies of To Kill a Mockingbird from their libraries, citing the book as immoral." Outraged, Lee wrote a fiery letter to the Richmond News Leader condemning the groups actions. Recently, she asserted, I have received echoes down this way of the Hanover County School Boards activities, and what Ive heard makes me wonder if any of its members can read. Lee went on to compare the officials in question to Orwellian dictators and capped off her epic beat-down by enclosing a small contribution that I hope will be used to enroll the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice.
2. HELPED TRUMAN CAPOTE WORK ON IN COLD BLOOD
Lees childhood friend Truman Capote asked her to accompany him on a trip to the small town of Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 to investigate the recent murder of a wealthy family under mysterious circumstances. It didnt take long for Capote to discover that his companion had a much easier time talking to the locals, an ability which proved invaluable to his efforts. Lee was so dedicated to the case that she not only wrote 150 pages of notes for Capote, but also took a week-long vacation during the pre-production of To Kill a Mockingbird's film adaptation to rejoin him in Kansas so they might further examine the suspects. Trumans best-selling account of the incident, In Cold Blood, became an instant sensation.
3. WAS AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
Though she generally declines interview requests, Lee made a rare public appearance in 2007 to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fellow recipients that year included geneticist Francis Collins and former House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Henry Hyde. (See Lee claiming her prize at the 32:36 mark of the above clip).
4. WROTE AN IMPASSIONED DEFENSE OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES
In 2006, Lee composed an open letter to Oprah Winfreys O magazine that discussed her love of books. Her thoughts should be required reading for bookworms of all ages:
[In] an abundant society where people have laptops, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me: I still prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it. And Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you upsome things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/54752/4-awesome-things-harper-lee-did-after-mockingbird
There is a video of her Medal of Freedom Award at the link. You can see it there if you wish. However it was Buscko that honored her. I couldn't bear to bring it here.
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I think that Ms Lee was terrified of the public spotlight that she implored Capote not to use her;
greiner3
Apr 2014
#26
Mockingbird - one of my favorite books ever. Everything about it is wonderful.
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#18
reading books again, especially the classics is one of the most enjoyable things i have found
JI7
Apr 2014
#21
you have to consider the times and other context, plus in this book he was not able to save him
JI7
Apr 2014
#22
As a person of color, I will never take offense when someone stands up for what is right
BrotherIvan
Apr 2014
#30