More than 50 years ago Nelle Harper Lee wrote a book called To Kill a Mockingbird.. It was her one and only book and it is a masterpiece, but the story behind it has always been a tantalizing enigma.
Through the years there have been rumors that her best friend and neighbor, Truman Capote, edited her writing so much, by rights he actually wrote it.
The fact that Lee never published another book gives doubters reason to corroborate that notion, but I’ve never bought it. She lived in a small Alabama town, her father was a trial lawyer, she knew well the story of the 1930s Scottsboro trial, where a group of young black boys were accused of raping a white woman in Alabama, she studied law herself, was a Fulbright Scholar at Oxford, and she was not a novice at writing.
It isn’t that Capote couldn’t have overwritten it to suit his own style–his book, The Grass Harp, is as sublime, as bitter-sweet, and was also written from a child’s point of view. But everything I’ve read about Harper Lee says she has her own specific talents as well as a formidable stubborn streak. Her friend Truman might have helped her with the technical aspects of a manuscript, but it’s an insult to suggest she’s not the true author of that beautiful book.
We’ll never know for sure, of course, because Harper Lee isn’t talking. She sees no need to tell her side of the story. The story is the book. She is a writer, not a celebrity, and the limelight isn’t what most writers strive for. Their goal is to tell a ripping good tale, and Harper Lee has done that. She owes her fans nothing more.
She is now 88 years old. For over a half-century people have been knocking at her door, trying to find out who Harper Lee really is. In all these years she has never let them in. It isn’t that she is such a recluse she has never appeared in public, never spoken publicly. She has. Many times. And it isn’t as if she has never left Monroeville, Alabama. She kept an apartment in New York City and went back often, for months at a time. Until recently, when both of them moved into a nursing home, she lived with her older sister, Alice (102 years old!), in the town where they grew up.
She speaks publicly but only when she wants to. She is not keen on inviting the inevitable over-analysis of her famous book, and has no interest in being a celebrity. So because she is who she is and would rather be left alone, she is seen, of course, as the ultimate “get”.
No matter how much time has passed since her one and only book was published, the author Harper Lee can’t get away from celebrity scrutiny. In 2004 Marja Mills, then a journalist on leave from the Chicago Tribune for medical reasons, moved into the house next door to Nelle and Alice and stayed for a year and a half She had many conversations with Nelle’s sister, and with friends and neighbors. She assured her publishers that she had also spent a considerable amount of time talking to Nelle. But Nelle denies ever giving her more than the time of day.
Now, 10 years after Mills left Monroeville and the Lee sisters, the book, awkwardly titled The Mockingbird Next Door, Life With Harper Lee, is out. If you believe Harper Lee, Marja Mills lied to get this book published. There is no other way to look at it. Yet the publisher’s note on the Penguin Press page says the following:
In 2004, with the Lees’ encouragement, Mills moved into the house next door to the sisters. She spent the next eighteen months there, talking and sharing stories over meals and daily drives in the countryside. Along with members of the Lees’ tight inner circle, the sisters and Mills would go fishing, feed the ducks, go to the Laundromat, watch the Crimson Tide, drink coffee at McDonald’s, and explore all over lower Alabama.
Nelle shared her love of history, literature, and the quirky Southern way of life with Mills, as well as her keen sense of how journalism should be practiced. As the sisters decided to let Mills tell their story, Nelle helped make sure she was getting the story—and the South—right. Alice, the keeper of the Lee family history, shared the stories of their family.
Nelle Harper Lee says that never happened. She says she never agreed to tell her story to Mills, and she never developed a friendship with her. In fact, Lee says, she would go out of town whenever she heard Mills was coming because the woman hounded her so much.
As early as 2011, when the news came out of the forthcoming book, Harper Lee denied any cooperation with Mills. Mills’ agent calmly suggested that Lee may have “forgotten” her cooperation since her stroke in 2007.
So even with Harper Lee’s painstaking efforts to get the word out that Marja Mills’ book about “life with Harper Lee” is stacked with lie upon lie, the presses rolled. The book is in print. The reviews have been written. (Note that there is no mention in the Washington Post review of Lee’s 2011 insistence that she did not cooperate with Mills. Not a hint that she fought hard against it.)
If Marja Mills had written an unauthorized book about Harper Lee, I might hold my nose but be forced to agree that she has that right. But if, as Harper Lee accuses, Marja Mills and her publisher, Penguin Group, pushed forward with the publication, knowing full well that the entire book was built on the lie that Lee gave it her blessing, that whole conversations were real and not imagined, then the subtitle, “Life with Harper Lee”, is a falsehood.
So who are you going to believe? Nelle Harper Lee or Marja Mills? Is there some truth, some lie in both stories? Could be. But if Harper Lee says she’s the unwilling subject of a book and the author claims otherwise, there’s a problem.
I don’t know Harper Lee but I do know “To Kill a Mockingbird”. More than 50 years after it appeared, the book still resonates. It is still a classic, so beautifully written we’ve never been able to get over it.
The author did good. She gave us an amazing gift. Now she should be able to rest.
Eric Trommater July 17th, 2014 at 14:13
Given Capote’s later life decline into funny talking talk show guest and token “not quite out of the closet” gay writer who hadn’t published anything since In Cold Blood I can see Lee’s reticence to follow in her childhood friend’s footstep. While her book belongs to art and to the ages, she as a person has the right to not to belong to any of us.
jasperjava July 17th, 2014 at 14:22
Beautifully put. Well said.
I loved the book, but I came to it after having seen the film. Gregory Peck is one of my all-time favorite actors, and watching him plead for justice in an unjust land still sends chills down my spine.
Eric Trommater July 17th, 2014 at 14:38
I agree. I also remember a few years ago when Lee came out with a screed against cellphones and the internet and called Americans empty headed boobs. I remember thinking to myself, maybe I don’t want to read anything she wrote after Mockingbird because it might ruin my appreciation of her work. If there is a J.D. Salinger-type back log of her work, my guess is it will read something like a chronicle of “hey you kids get off my lawn” remarks lol.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:55
Lol, Eric. I’ll bet anything you would be right!
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 16:02
I read it for the first time after I had seen the movie and I’m sure Peck as Atticus colored my view as I read it. The children, too. And Boo. I couldn’t say right now which I liked better, the book or the movie. They fit together seamlessly in my mind.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:58
Somebody else noted that if Capote had actually been involved in the writing, he would have been the first to take credit. They had a falling-out somewhere down the line (probably over her fame overshadowing his), so he had a chance to make a claim, but never did.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 22:02
Yes, I always liked Capote, but the man was quite the blabbermouth. Had he written any part of “To Kill A Mockingbird” he would have said so. This is not the only reason to disbelieve the rumors, but it’s a good place to start.
It is a shame people have to make up stuff up like that.
I vaguely recall something along the lines of either he didn’t know she was writing the book until it was done or they were geographically apart when she wrote it – sorry, I wish I could recall for sure.
Their styles were different and at that time I am sure he would not have done something like that.
People should just let great works like that sit and they should leave people like Miss Lee alone. These rumor mongers are nothing more than rats chewing away at the siding, trying to get in the house so they can be near someone whose circle they could never be part of.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 22:10
Ms. Grigg, in the OP: “The story is the book.”
Precisely.
I remember a Bob Dylan concert where he and his band just walked on stage with no introduction, picked up their instruments and played one song after the other till the end. There was no between song patter like that we often hear, and there were no band introductions. Afterward I heard people complaining about it and told them, “You guys don’t get it. What you just saw was pure cool. It’s all about the songs, and that is why he didn’t say anything. It’s all about the songs.”
Eric Trommater July 17th, 2014 at 14:13
Given Capote’s later life decline into funny talking talk show guest and token “not quite out of the closet” gay writer who hadn’t published anything since In Cold Blood I can see Lee’s reticence to follow in her childhood friend’s footsteps. While her book belongs to art and to the ages, she as a person has the right to not to belong to any of us.
jasperjava July 17th, 2014 at 14:22
Beautifully put. Well said.
I loved the book, but I came to it after having seen the film. Gregory Peck is one of my all-time favorite actors, and watching him plead for justice in an unjust land still sends chills down my spine.
Eric Trommater July 17th, 2014 at 14:38
I agree. I also remember a few years ago when Lee came out with a screed against cellphones and the internet and called Americans empty headed boobs. I remember thinking to myself, maybe I don’t want to read anything she wrote after Mockingbird because it might ruin my appreciation of her work. If there is a J.D. Salinger-type back log of her work, my guess is it will read something like a chronicle of “hey you kids get off my lawn” remarks lol.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:55
Lol, Eric. I’ll bet anything you would be right!
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 16:02
I read it for the first time after I had seen the movie and I’m sure Peck as Atticus colored my view as I read it. The children, too. And Boo. I couldn’t say right now which I liked better, the book or the movie. They fit together seamlessly in my mind.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:58
Somebody else noted that if Capote had actually been involved in the writing, he would have been the first to take credit. They had a falling-out somewhere down the line (probably over her fame overshadowing his), so he had a chance to make a claim, but never did.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 22:02
Yes, I always liked Capote, but the man was quite the blabbermouth. Had he written any part of “To Kill A Mockingbird” he would have said so. This is not the only reason to disbelieve the rumors, but it’s a good place to start.
It is a shame people have to make up stuff up like that.
I vaguely recall something along the lines of either he didn’t know she was writing the book until it was done or they were geographically apart when she wrote it – sorry, I wish I could recall for sure.
Their styles were different and at that time I am sure he would not have done something like that.
People should just let great works like that sit and they should leave people like Miss Lee alone. These rumor mongers are nothing more than rats chewing away at the siding, trying to get in the house so they can be near someone whose circle they could never be part of.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 22:10
Ms. Grigg, in the OP: “The story is the book.”
Precisely.
I remember a Bob Dylan concert where he and his band just walked on stage with no introduction, picked up their instruments and played one song after the other till the end. There was no between song patter like that we often hear, and there were no band introductions. Afterward I heard people complaining about it and told them, “You guys don’t get it. What you just saw was pure cool. It’s all about the songs, and that is why he didn’t say anything. It’s all about the songs.”
R.J. Carter July 17th, 2014 at 14:15
Excellent article! Nicely researched and formed.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:55
Thank you, R.J.
Anomaly 100 July 17th, 2014 at 21:02
I’ve been a fan of yours for ages. I loved this post. You schooled me on some of the points I wasn’t aware of.
R.J. Carter July 17th, 2014 at 14:15
Excellent article! Nicely researched and formed.
Ramona July 17th, 2014 at 15:55
Thank you, R.J.
Anomaly 100 July 17th, 2014 at 21:02
I’ve been a fan of yours for ages. I loved this post. You schooled me on some of the points I wasn’t aware of.
Wells July 17th, 2014 at 20:23
Thanks very much Ramona.
Well done and due respect for Lee.
Scrapbook story/photo keeper.
Wells July 17th, 2014 at 20:23
Thanks very much Ramona.
Well done and due respect for Lee.
Scrapbook story/photo keeper.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 20:56
Though I’ve never met her in person, I “know” Harper Lee in the way only Southerners can. She is one of us and we recognize our own (I am a 13th generation purebred Southerner).
I do not believe for a second this nonsense about Truman Capote writing major portions of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
For another fine article about the conflict with this contemptible varlet of an agent, check this out:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/08/harper-lee-dispute-royalties
Right away I had a feeling where it would go when it says Pinkus was “in a sports shirt with the tail hanging out.” … and sure enough. …
Harper Lee is a Southern belle, a treasure, and does not deserve to be subject of these rumors or the way she has been taken advantage of.
burqa July 17th, 2014 at 20:56
Though I’ve never met her in person, I “know” Harper Lee in the way only Southerners can. She is one of us and we recognize our own (I am a 13th generation purebred Southerner).
I do not believe for a second this nonsense about Truman Capote writing major portions of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
For another fine article about the conflict with this contemptible varlet of an agent, check this out:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/08/harper-lee-dispute-royalties
Right away I had a feeling where it would go when it says Pinkus was “in a sports shirt with the tail hanging out.” … and sure enough. …
Harper Lee is a Southern belle, a treasure, and does not deserve to be subject of these rumors or the way she has been taken advantage of.
I shall not bother with the Mills book.
Unbannable July 18th, 2014 at 12:00
The best part of To Kill a Mockingbird is where the n166er dies in prison.
Just like real life.
Unbannable July 18th, 2014 at 12:00
The best part of To Kill a Mockingbird is where the n166er dies in prison.
Just like real life.