RoryN
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Oprah prints letter from Harper Lee
Sunday, June 25, 2006
By CONNIE BAGGETT
Staff Reporter
MONROEVILLE -- It's nothing unusual to see Pulitzer-winner Nelle Harper Lee on the golf course or at church or even shopping here, but many local residents were surprised to see the intensely private author featured in "O, The Oprah Magazine" this month in a letter to Oprah Winfrey.
"All I can say is lucky Oprah," said Dawn Crook, the sites manager for Monroe County Heritage Museums that features exhibits on Lee and produces an annual stage play of Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
The 1960 novel follows the search for justice and tolerance in fictional Maycomb, Ala., during the Great Depression as a black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman. The story unfolds through the eyes of Scout as she, her brother and a friend scheme to make a reclusive neighbor come out of his home.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize and was soon made into a feature film starring Gregory Peck that earned an Oscar. Lee granted interviews after the book was published and as the film hit screens across the country, but stopped granting interviews in the early 1960s.
In the years since, she has never published another novel, but has occasionally written letters or essays that were printed in magazines. The book is listed as the favorite novel of many celebrities and regular people around the world and still tops lists as the best-liked book by high school students.
The "O" magazine letter appears in the July issue currently on sale. Lee's picture appears on page 18 with three other writers who penned letters for the issue that focuses on reading. Lee's letter, dated May 7, details her earliest memories of reading, and being read to, from books and "The Mobile Press" as a small child. She details a system of book trading set up by youngsters in Monroeville, and of the love for reading that has grown over the years of her life.
Calls seeking comment from the magazine's spokesman were not returned.
Lee's letter says she has clung to books even when others carry "laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms." She closes with "Much love, Harper."
Far from reclusive, Lee has been described by friends and neighbors as "amiable," "serious about golf," "charming," and "at times cantankerous." She has shunned interview requests by reporters far and wide for decades, including big media names like Dan Rather. On occasion she has made public appearances, speaking at the graduation ceremonies for Spring Hill College a few years ago, collecting honors from the Legislature as a member of the Alabama Hall of Honor and the Alabama Humanities Foundation.
But she guards her privacy, and people in Monroeville are happy to help her ward off intruders.
"She wrote a letter to the New Yorker a few months ago," said the Rev. Thomas Lane Butts, a longtime friend. "It was very short as I recall."
Jane Ellen Clark, director of Monroe County Heritage Museums, said, "very few letters by Harper Lee have ever been published. She did write one a few years ago for a legal magazine, and she had an essay published years ago. There are many accounts of people writing to her and receiving a reply."
Clark said Lee seems to be particularly responsive to young readers and to the subject of reading in general. Winfrey, an iconic figure of daytime television talk shows, has for years listed Lee's novel as among her favorites and makes no secret about her respect for Lee, Clark said.
"Several reports recently describe a correspondence between Ms. Winfrey and Miss Lee," Clark said. "On a recent talk show, Ms. Winfrey said she had flown to Monroeville to have lunch with Miss Lee, so they apparently have been in contact."
Sunday, June 25, 2006
By CONNIE BAGGETT
Staff Reporter
MONROEVILLE -- It's nothing unusual to see Pulitzer-winner Nelle Harper Lee on the golf course or at church or even shopping here, but many local residents were surprised to see the intensely private author featured in "O, The Oprah Magazine" this month in a letter to Oprah Winfrey.
"All I can say is lucky Oprah," said Dawn Crook, the sites manager for Monroe County Heritage Museums that features exhibits on Lee and produces an annual stage play of Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
The 1960 novel follows the search for justice and tolerance in fictional Maycomb, Ala., during the Great Depression as a black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman. The story unfolds through the eyes of Scout as she, her brother and a friend scheme to make a reclusive neighbor come out of his home.
The book won a Pulitzer Prize and was soon made into a feature film starring Gregory Peck that earned an Oscar. Lee granted interviews after the book was published and as the film hit screens across the country, but stopped granting interviews in the early 1960s.
In the years since, she has never published another novel, but has occasionally written letters or essays that were printed in magazines. The book is listed as the favorite novel of many celebrities and regular people around the world and still tops lists as the best-liked book by high school students.
The "O" magazine letter appears in the July issue currently on sale. Lee's picture appears on page 18 with three other writers who penned letters for the issue that focuses on reading. Lee's letter, dated May 7, details her earliest memories of reading, and being read to, from books and "The Mobile Press" as a small child. She details a system of book trading set up by youngsters in Monroeville, and of the love for reading that has grown over the years of her life.
Calls seeking comment from the magazine's spokesman were not returned.
Lee's letter says she has clung to books even when others carry "laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms." She closes with "Much love, Harper."
Far from reclusive, Lee has been described by friends and neighbors as "amiable," "serious about golf," "charming," and "at times cantankerous." She has shunned interview requests by reporters far and wide for decades, including big media names like Dan Rather. On occasion she has made public appearances, speaking at the graduation ceremonies for Spring Hill College a few years ago, collecting honors from the Legislature as a member of the Alabama Hall of Honor and the Alabama Humanities Foundation.
But she guards her privacy, and people in Monroeville are happy to help her ward off intruders.
"She wrote a letter to the New Yorker a few months ago," said the Rev. Thomas Lane Butts, a longtime friend. "It was very short as I recall."
Jane Ellen Clark, director of Monroe County Heritage Museums, said, "very few letters by Harper Lee have ever been published. She did write one a few years ago for a legal magazine, and she had an essay published years ago. There are many accounts of people writing to her and receiving a reply."
Clark said Lee seems to be particularly responsive to young readers and to the subject of reading in general. Winfrey, an iconic figure of daytime television talk shows, has for years listed Lee's novel as among her favorites and makes no secret about her respect for Lee, Clark said.
"Several reports recently describe a correspondence between Ms. Winfrey and Miss Lee," Clark said. "On a recent talk show, Ms. Winfrey said she had flown to Monroeville to have lunch with Miss Lee, so they apparently have been in contact."
