Community Chat

[Pearlee]

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@SuzieGarnet wrote:

  What a gentle soul she must've been!!

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@Suziepeach  That's exactly what I thought when I read that column.  And you are welcome; glad to share with another Harper Lee fan.

[Suziepeach]

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@Pearlee wrote:

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@SuzieGarnet wrote:

  What a gentle soul she must've been!!

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@Suziepeach  That's exactly what I thought when I read that column.  And you are welcome; glad to share with another Harper Lee fan.

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@Pearlee, the very first time I read Mockingbird, I was hooked & like many, have read it over and over.  I started it again the day she passed away.  Now that I know she molded Dill from Capote, I can see even deeper (if that makes any sense) into that character, as all the others..  Like herself being like Scout.  Wonderful, wonderful book!  How gracious she was to send a letter back, that in its self is a treasure...

[Suziepeach]

There was a show on PBS titled "Hey Boo" and narrated by Mary Badham- she played Scout..  Very interesting if anyone gets a chance to see it. 

http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2011/05/12/136239312/hey-boo-a-new-documentary-explores-why-ha...

[insomniac2]

Of course she wrote the Watchman book--but it was an early draft, and it was changed significantly and became To Kill a Mockingbird (that's my understanding of it, anyway).

[insomniac2]

It was required reading for 9th graders in our school system.

[Bestdressed]

RIP Harper Lee

[shoekitty]

If any of you enjoy audio books, I can recommend TKAM 50th anniversery, read by Sissy Spacek.

She reads the book wonderfully!  I was glued to the CD's in my car.  It is unabridged, and well worth listening to.

I listen to it every 8 months or so.  Everytime I listen to it read I hear something new.  It really is a work of art, a well told story.  It isn't a book that preaches, or tells you what to think.  It tells a story, and in the end has many lessons learned.  I required all my grandchildren  read this book as well as Cannery Row and the Glass Castle.

[Barbara in Virginia]

Harper Lee was a Chi Omega sister of mine.  We honored her with a Woman of Achievement award in 2004.  She was unable to attend, but wrote this letter as her acceptance.  It was hand-written!

You can find her letter here:

https://www.facebook.com/ChiOmegaFraternity/?fref=photo

[esmerelda]

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@Lila Belle wrote:
She was a giant. She was responsible for changing the hearts and minds of a lot of people of her generation and the countless children who read her book in elementary school and those who only saw the movie.

I think TKAM is probably the best American novel ever written.

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Maybe that's why it wasn't anything special to me.  My heart and mind were already "there" and didn't need to be changed.