Scout, Atticus, And Boo Part 7

You know, my father used to say, "Don't do as I do, do as I say." But if you really want to understand someone, watch what they do. Actions define character. As a parent, when I reread To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird today, I think, today, I think, Wow, there's really an important message in here for parents. You think that you're watching your kids 24/7. But they're really watching you. Wow, there's really an important message in here for parents. You think that you're watching your kids 24/7. But they're really watching you.

Art is the emotional landscape of a culture. It's our feelings talking, in whatever form it is, whether it's a dance, a poem, a short story, a novel. To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is the best of American literature because it tells us who we are, who we can be, and it paints the communities we lived in, in vivid, truthful detail. I mean, if that's not art, or our highest dreams for literature, for storytelling, I don't know what is. is the best of American literature because it tells us who we are, who we can be, and it paints the communities we lived in, in vivid, truthful detail. I mean, if that's not art, or our highest dreams for literature, for storytelling, I don't know what is.

Mary Tucker Mary Tucker was born in Burnt Corn, Alabama, in 1927. She has lived in Monroeville, Alabama, since 1954 and taught in its public schools before and after integration.

I moved to Monroeville in 1954 after marrying John Tucker, who lived in Monroeville. The town, as all the Southern towns were at that time, was segregated. There had been quite a bit of development from the time of moved to Monroeville in 1954 after marrying John Tucker, who lived in Monroeville. The town, as all the Southern towns were at that time, was segregated. There had been quite a bit of development from the time of To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the 1930s. The streets were all paved around the square and into town. It was very segregated. We could not use the restaurants in town. The library was segregated. Churches were very segregated. I was taking a correspondence course on the short story. And there were several books that we didn't have in our school library nor in the little branch library in the black community. So I went to the library in town. Mrs. Mort McMillan was the librarian, and I told her what I needed and asked if she would borrow the books through the interlibrary loan. She agreed, and I would pick the books up and take them home and use them. I didn't try to use them in the library. But she was very nice about getting the books that I needed.

When I first came to Monroeville, I lived outside of the city limits, the place where my husband grew up. And then we built a house in town in 1960 on Drury Road. The area where I lived was called the Morning Star community, which was practically all black, but on the street right behind me was a white area. And then the other black community was down in what is called Clausel, where the black high school was, Union High School.

Downtown was all white. There were some homes right outside of the business area, but that was all white. There were no black businesses at all in downtown. The closest was a cleaners at that time; it was New Modern, which was owned by a black man. I can't remember the year that the first black policeman was hired, but it must have been in the late seventies. Vanity Fair [the lingerie company] was very segregated. They did not hire any blacks except as truck drivers and janitors until they were forced to in the seventies, I believe. And one lady who was hired there told me that her supervisor told her, "We had to hire you. We didn't want to."

When I came to Monroeville, at one of the little dress shops, I was told that if I tried on a dress, it had to be over the clothes that I was wearing, [unlike white customers], which surprised me. I resented that I couldn't use the library. We would go to the drugstore, where they had a soda shop, and I couldn't sit down and have a c.o.ke or ice cream. I resented those things. I taught in Beatrice when I first came to Monroe County, from 1957 till 1960. And then I taught at Union High until schools integrated.

I resented the fact that our black students from the lower part of the county would come to Union High School and drive past Monroe County High. And they were often late, and they left early to get home before dark. So, yes, I resented that.

And I knew we didn't have the equipment that they had at Monroe County High School.

Black people stayed in their neighborhoods, so I didn't really notice any tension. We shopped in town, but other than that, we didn't have any interaction with whites. We were just very separate. I didn't know any white people except the businesspeople that I had dealings with, and the professionals. My doctor, Dr. Rayford Smith, was great, but I had no interaction with whites.

Integration actually went well in Monroeville. I think the student body and the public schools were about 45 percent white and 55 percent black, but it went extremely well. My husband was the princ.i.p.al of the middle school. He had great support from some of the leaders in the white community. Many have told me that they think that he was one of the reasons that it went so well.

After integration, I've just gotten to know many more of the whites. I have attended community Bible study up at First Baptist, where I met a lot of people. And then I've served on various boards-the library board, the museum board, and now the historic preservation board-where I have gotten to know and had interactions with many whites.

There certainly was some progressive thinking in town, but they could not go against the conventions. Before integration, A. B. Bla.s.s [owner of the hardware store] used to tell a story about the Christmas parade that was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, I believe. This was in the sixties before schools integrated. A white citizens council had been organized, and the Klan was still active. And A.B. said that he was told that if the black band from Union High School marched in the parade, there would be trouble. Mr. McMillan, the princ.i.p.al, was told that the high school black band was not to march.

And so, rather than not permit our band to march, they canceled the parade. A.B. ran a hardware store, and he said that his business suffered because of his decision. So we didn't have the Christmas parade that year.

There was the civil rights movement, but we didn't have much activity in Monroeville. There was in the county just north of us, Wilc.o.x, but not very much in Monroeville. I was told by one of the civil rights activists, Ezra Cunningham from Beatrice, that he tried to get blacks registered to vote. Now, I had no trouble registering. When I went up, the only thing that bothered me, the registrars insisted on filling out the form for me.

I registered soon after I came, so it must have been '55. But Mr. Cunningham told me he reached an agreement with the town officials that he would just bring five people per week. So they didn't feel threatened. And those five people were able to register to vote.

He said there were repercussions. He was told one time that if he came to Monroeville on a certain route, there would be people waiting for him. And the Board of Education threatened to send his wife over to Lower Peachtree, which is quite a distance away, when she was teaching at her home in Beatrice. So he said that he suffered repercussions and that he couldn't get a car loan.

I read the book as soon as it came out and I got my hands on it. I loved it. I was very much impressed. I knew Miss Alice Lee, because when we got a loan to build our house, she was our lawyer. I didn't know that many people in the white community; I didn't know their reaction to the book until much later. Not a lot of black people read the book. Later on, I discovered that many did not like it, still don't. Some have told me they don't see the play because they don't like the language. And I've tried to explain that the use of the N word was a part of the vocabulary of that time. If they had changed it, it wouldn't have been realistic. But some still don't appreciate the book. I'm talking about the black population. They are the ones that don't like the language.

White people in town thought that many of the characters were really based on real people. And I understand they resented that. And Atticus's defense of a black man, I heard, much later; I really didn't know their thinking then, but I've heard, much later. And from what one of my white neighbors told me, that she hated that book, the way they treated the Boulware boy, she said.

Boo Radley: My husband told me he remembered the incident, that he was one of the teenagers who got into some trouble, and his father, rather than allow him to be incarcerated, said he would lock him up at home and that he would never get in trouble again. My husband remembered that incident.

The church that's mentioned, where Calpunia brought the children, because that was in easy walking distance-I think that was my church, Morning Star. I remember [my husband's] aunt telling me of her father, who was white, who lived outside of town, bringing them into town to shop. And they didn't want to be seen coming into town with a white man, who was their father. They would ask to be let out of the wagon before going into town. And he refused. He would insist they stay in the wagon till there.

Hoover carts: I remember the Hoover carts in our little farming community. It was a two-wheeled cart, usually had tires and hitched to a mule or ox. There weren't many of those in my community, but I do remember seeing them. And they named them the Hoover cart because Hoover was the president when the Depression started and they blamed him for the economic condition, so they called them the Hoover carts.

I have read To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird several times since then. And I always find something different that impresses me when I read it again. several times since then. And I always find something different that impresses me when I read it again.

It has meant so much to Monroeville and to the county, because it brings tourists, and our play has become a big event. I think now we're appreciating that aspect of it.

I think because we've become more aware of how unfair the system was back then before integration, that there just was no justice. Blacks did not serve on juries. Women didn't serve on juries. I think we have grown that much that now we understand how unfair the system was, how unusual it was for Atticus to take a case like that, when, as he said-and that was one of my favorite pa.s.sages-when you know you can't win, but you take it anyway.

Scott Turow Scott Turow was born in Chicago in 1949. He is a lawyer and the author of nine novels, including Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent (1987), (1987), Personal Injuries Personal Injuries (1999), (1999), Limitations Limitations (2006), and (2006), and Innocent Innocent (2010) and two nonfiction books, (2010) and two nonfiction books, One L One L (1997) and (1997) and Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty (2003). (2003).

I was pretty close to Scout's age when I read was pretty close to Scout's age when I read To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird. It was this big best-selling novel. Probably my mother encouraged me to read it. I was enthralled by it. I loved Scout and was intensely identified with her, and in a way that, in retrospect, probably should have been more uncomfortable for a boy, but which really was not. It was this big best-selling novel. Probably my mother encouraged me to read it. I was enthralled by it. I loved Scout and was intensely identified with her, and in a way that, in retrospect, probably should have been more uncomfortable for a boy, but which really was not.

It was just one of those books that sucks you in and carries you along. And, of course, it was telling a story about the South that a Northern boy wanted to hear. I suppose I had lots of reasons for loving it as much as I did. One was this greatly idealized father, which, in candor, I didn't have. I was hip on race as a very young kid, which led to quite a bit of activity in the civil rights movement until white people were basically thrown out when Dr. King was killed. There was a lot of stuff in there that spoke to me. I loved the book.

I have a memory of trying to read Anatomy of a Murder Anatomy of a Murder, which was [published] a few years before, and I couldn't get through that. I did many years later with great pleasure. To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird might have been the first adult novel that I read, although I read might have been the first adult novel that I read, although I read The Count of Monte Cristo The Count of Monte Cristo when I was ten, and that truly ignited my interest in what I'll call literature. when I was ten, and that truly ignited my interest in what I'll call literature.

I feel constrained to talk about it a lot because To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a lawyer. I just think the grace of the writing is substantial, and I am confounded by people who attack it as a work of literature. I think it is a beautifully written and structured book. Is it sentimental? Yes, it's sentimental, but so was Steinbeck, and people still read Steinbeck, and as my dear friend Mitch Albom [author of is a story about a lawyer. I just think the grace of the writing is substantial, and I am confounded by people who attack it as a work of literature. I think it is a beautifully written and structured book. Is it sentimental? Yes, it's sentimental, but so was Steinbeck, and people still read Steinbeck, and as my dear friend Mitch Albom [author of Tuesdays with Morrie Tuesdays with Morrie] is proving, people like sentimentality. One of the things I dislike intensely about the high-art-versus-low-art people is the fact that the high-art people do not acknowledge that all stories are models of the world. It is not as if Ulysses Ulysses didn't come with its own set of prejudices and conventions that, in point of fact, don't match "reality" as we currently apprehend it either. To attack a work because it is sentimental is not to recognize, frankly, why sentiment continues to appeal. It appeals because people want to believe in an idealized world, and that has an instructive function, an instructive moral function. It's true that there aren't many human beings in the world like Atticus Finch-perhaps none-but that doesn't mean that it's not worth striving to be like him. didn't come with its own set of prejudices and conventions that, in point of fact, don't match "reality" as we currently apprehend it either. To attack a work because it is sentimental is not to recognize, frankly, why sentiment continues to appeal. It appeals because people want to believe in an idealized world, and that has an instructive function, an instructive moral function. It's true that there aren't many human beings in the world like Atticus Finch-perhaps none-but that doesn't mean that it's not worth striving to be like him.

I said that that certainly was the way it resonated. He is a paragon beyond paragons. In latter years, my interest in him has been that he is emblematic of the way lawyers were represented up till probably the 1980s, when all of a sudden-it was the hangover of Watergate-people realized that lawyers are not paragons. Lawyers, in some cases, are greedy sc.u.m-sucking pigs, which is as one-sided and silly a picture as to imagine that they are all paragons. I am always at pains to point out that not only is Atticus this wonderful father, completely intuitive and caring, but he is even the best shot in the county. He is everything and, of course, the only lawyer in town who will defend this black man accused of this supposedly horrible crime. He is a paragon. He is a type that Americans would no longer believe in much as a lawyer in our popular fiction of today, but that doesn't mean it's not a great book.

After Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent and especially and especially The Burden of Proof The Burden of Proof, I became a part-time lawyer. And one of the things that I maintained in my practice was this commitment to doing pro bono work. If you say to me, "Well, why did you want to do pro bono work?" I can't say it was Atticus alone, but certainly if you can ask me for the earliest example that I was aware of, that was it. I promised myself that when I grew up and I was a man, I would try to do things just as good and n.o.ble as what Atticus had done for Tom Robinson. So I don't think it inspired me to be a lawyer, but certainly, as a vision of the positives that lawyers can do, it did. I would be unfair to my profession if I did not add that there are many, many, many lawyers around the United States who are still doing what Atticus did.

My connection with the movie is odd, because it was the first big job that [To Kill a Mockingbird producer] Alan Pakula had, and Alan ultimately directed producer] Alan Pakula had, and Alan ultimately directed Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent. Alan talked about To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird incessantly. The movie did not have the impact on me that the book had had. If you go back to 1960, '61, '62, when the movie finally came out, the movies were not recognized as an art at that time. They were kind of celluloid trash, and the a.s.sumption was that any movie made from any book was a lesser work, and that was the a.s.sumption in my house. I don't think I took it as seriously. incessantly. The movie did not have the impact on me that the book had had. If you go back to 1960, '61, '62, when the movie finally came out, the movies were not recognized as an art at that time. They were kind of celluloid trash, and the a.s.sumption was that any movie made from any book was a lesser work, and that was the a.s.sumption in my house. I don't think I took it as seriously.

One reason the book endures is because of what I've referred to as wingspan. It can still be read by thirteen-year-olds. It can be read by blue-haired ladies and men with callused hands. It's not a hard book to read. It's a very graceful book. I think, a really moving book, and it also tells a tale that we know is still true. We may live eventually in a world where that kind of race prejudice is unimaginable, and people may read this story in three hundred years and go, "So what was the big deal?" But the fact of the matter is, in today's America, it still speaks a fundamental truth.

People understand not only that this happened, but that it still happens, and that people are falsely accused, that race is a factor. So there is a kernel of it that is very contemporary.

I cannot imagine what drove [Harper Lee] into silence, although Hemingway said that all writers really tell one story, so maybe she felt she told the story she had to tell. I don't know. It's a frightening thing to another novelist to see somebody write a book that good and then shut up. It is a great puzzle.

This was a very brave book to have written when Harper Lee wrote it, and she probably gets zero credit anymore. We are speaking a truth that people in 1959, 1960, were not ready to acknowledge. People forgot how divided this country was, what the animosity was to the Civil Rights Act, which probably never would have been pa.s.sed if John F. Kennedy hadn't been a.s.sa.s.sinated, and instead it became his legacy. But that was 1963, and in 1960, there were no laws guaranteeing that African Americans could enter any restaurant, any hotel. We didn't have those laws. In that world, to speak out this way was remarkable.

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954. She is a talk-show host, TV and film producer, founder of O, The Oprah Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, radio programmer, actress, philanthropist, and chairman of Harpo, Inc. Winfrey was the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1999. radio programmer, actress, philanthropist, and chairman of Harpo, Inc. Winfrey was the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 1999.

At the time that I read To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird, I was living with my mother in Milwaukee. I would not have had any money to buy it, so I would undoubtedly have chosen it from the library. I was one of those kids who would go to the library every two weeks, withdraw five books, read the five books, and return them. It was a librarian who said, "If you like reading that kind of book, I think you will like reading this book."

So I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird at the library. It was one of five other books, and I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout. I wanted to be Scout. I thought I was Scout. I always took on or wanted to take on the characteristics of whoever I was reading about, and so I wanted to be Scout and I wanted a father like Atticus. at the library. It was one of five other books, and I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout. I wanted to be Scout. I thought I was Scout. I always took on or wanted to take on the characteristics of whoever I was reading about, and so I wanted to be Scout and I wanted a father like Atticus.

Atticus isn't even real, I know, but my gosh, did I want a dad like Atticus! And I wanted to have a relations.h.i.+p like Scout had with Atticus, so I could call him by his first name. I wanted a nickname like Scout's. I was drawn to the book because of that, and it wasn't until I saw the book transformed into a film that I came to realize the depth of the racial implications of the book.

I remember watching the movie with my father many years after I first read the book. The impact of the movie on my father caused me to see the book differently and experience the book differently. I am right after the cusp of the civil rights movement. I wasn't a child of the civil rights movement. I am one of those people who has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of the civil rights movement. I don't know what it is like to be told to go to the back door.

I did not live a Jim Crow segregated life, because I was one of the fortunate ones who were able to escape Mississippi. And I do mean escape-1960, when this book was published, was about the time I was leaving Mississippi.

I left for Milwaukee and left my grandmother when I was six years old, so I never experienced the segregation of the South. I moved to an integrated school and was the smartest kid in the cla.s.s, and when you are the smartest kid in the cla.s.s, you always get a lot of attention. I never felt any of the oppressiveness of racism. I always recognize that life would have been so different for me had I been raised in a segregated environment, if I had to experience even secondhand what was happening in that environment.

I think of myself as a Southerner. My roots are Southern. Not only was I born in the South, in Mississippi, but for a great part of my life, I was raised in Tennessee, so I identify with being a Southern woman.

I identified with being a Southern child. After reading this book, I wished I had an accent, and I would go around trying to imitate Scout. It was really sickening, I guess. I scared a lot of other kids because, just like I do now, I remember reading this book and then going to cla.s.s and not being able to shut up about it. I read it in eighth or ninth grade, and I was trying to push the book off on other kids. So it makes sense to me that now I have a book club, because I have been doing that since probably this book. This is one of the first books I wanted to encourage other people to read.

I loved it from the beginning, and like a lot of people, I get the lines blurred between the movie and the book. The movie is very distinct for me because the reading experience comes alive for me in a way that my imagination cannot. In the history of film-making I have never seen a book really live its essence through film like this one, and that is because of the casting of Scout and Atticus, and all of them, really.

Maybe ten years ago, I had the honor of being seated next to Gregory Peck at a luncheon held for Quincy Jones in Hollywood. I was so like, Oh my G.o.d, it is Gregory Peck. What I am going to do? What I am going say? I am not just at the same table, but Oh my G.o.d, it is Gregory Peck. What I am going to do? What I am going say? I am not just at the same table, but next next to Gregory Peck. to Gregory Peck. Even though it is long after I have had the talk show and I have interviewed many people, I could not think of one thing to say. Finally I turned and I said, "So, how is Scout doing?" And he said, "Well, that was forty years ago, but OK." I say, "So, how is Scout doing? Do you ever see her?" Because in my brain, no matter what role Gregory Peck has done since then, he will always be Atticus to me, and whoever the woman was who played Scout is, she is always Scout in my mind. Even though it is long after I have had the talk show and I have interviewed many people, I could not think of one thing to say. Finally I turned and I said, "So, how is Scout doing?" And he said, "Well, that was forty years ago, but OK." I say, "So, how is Scout doing? Do you ever see her?" Because in my brain, no matter what role Gregory Peck has done since then, he will always be Atticus to me, and whoever the woman was who played Scout is, she is always Scout in my mind.

You just liked Scout. You connected with her. I liked her energy. I liked the spirit of her. I liked the freshness of her. I liked the fact that she was so curious. I loved this character so much. The character was so fully realized and showed, even at ten years old, that she knew who she was and was very a.s.sertive and had a lot of confidence and believed in herself and was learning about this whole world of racism in such a way that I could feel myself also experiencing or learning about it-my eyes opening as her eyes were opening to it.

I think To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is our national novel. If there was a national novel award, this would be it for the United States. I think it is a favorite book of almost everybody you meet. When I opened my school [in South Africa], everybody wanted to know what we can bring and what can we give the girls. I asked everybody to bring their favorite book, and I would say we probably have a hundred copies of this book. Each person who brought the book wrote their own words to the girls about why they believe this book was important, and everybody says something different. is our national novel. If there was a national novel award, this would be it for the United States. I think it is a favorite book of almost everybody you meet. When I opened my school [in South Africa], everybody wanted to know what we can bring and what can we give the girls. I asked everybody to bring their favorite book, and I would say we probably have a hundred copies of this book. Each person who brought the book wrote their own words to the girls about why they believe this book was important, and everybody says something different.

Of course I wanted to choose this for the book club even though America already loves it. I thought, "Wouldn't it be an amazing thing to have Harper Lee come on and be interviewed for To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird?" I started that process several years ago and worked on it for a couple of years with my staff calling back and forth between her agent.

Finally, we were able to arrange a meeting, and I was so excited. I remember it was a rainy day in New York, and we were going to have lunch at the Four Seasons. I saw her walking along the street with an umbrella and boots. It was so disarming and charming I couldn't believe it. So all of that What am I going to say? What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What am I going to do? went away. We were like instant girlfriends. It was just wonderful, and I loved being with her. I knew twenty minutes into the conversation that I would never be able to convince her to do an interview, and it is not my style to push. I decided to relax and enjoy this time that I had. Because [in Southern accent] honey, she was not going to be convinced at all. She said to me, "I already said everything I needed to say. Already we have those buses coming down to my house, and they pull up to the door still looking for Boo Radley, and I just don't want that to happen any more than it already does." She said no, and I knew that no meant no. Sometimes no means, "Hmm...let us see what else you have to say." But when Harper Lee said, "Well, honey, I already said everything I had to say," I knew that was the end of it. I just enjoyed the lunch. It was fantastic. went away. We were like instant girlfriends. It was just wonderful, and I loved being with her. I knew twenty minutes into the conversation that I would never be able to convince her to do an interview, and it is not my style to push. I decided to relax and enjoy this time that I had. Because [in Southern accent] honey, she was not going to be convinced at all. She said to me, "I already said everything I needed to say. Already we have those buses coming down to my house, and they pull up to the door still looking for Boo Radley, and I just don't want that to happen any more than it already does." She said no, and I knew that no meant no. Sometimes no means, "Hmm...let us see what else you have to say." But when Harper Lee said, "Well, honey, I already said everything I had to say," I knew that was the end of it. I just enjoyed the lunch. It was fantastic.

I think, Why didn't I take a tape recorder? Why didn't I take a tape recorder? because your brain is like, because your brain is like, Oh my G.o.d, oh my G.o.d, oh my G.o.d, I am having lunch with Harper Lee, and I hope I remember everything, and I am trying to memorize every sentence she is saying! Oh my G.o.d, oh my G.o.d, oh my G.o.d, I am having lunch with Harper Lee, and I hope I remember everything, and I am trying to memorize every sentence she is saying! Then afterwards you say, "What did she say? What did I say?" Then afterwards you say, "What did she say? What did I say?"

One of the things that struck me: She said, "If I had a dime for every book that was sold..." I was thinking, I hope you have more than a dime for every book that was sold, because n.o.body expected this. I was thinking, I hope you have more than a dime for every book that was sold, because n.o.body expected this. Certainly she didn't expect it, and obviously the publishers didn't expect it. [Fifty years later], we are still talking about this book and that it is the number one book on almost everybody in America's list for their favorite novel. So she wasn't prepared for it. Certainly she didn't expect it, and obviously the publishers didn't expect it. [Fifty years later], we are still talking about this book and that it is the number one book on almost everybody in America's list for their favorite novel. So she wasn't prepared for it.

She said to me, "You know the character Boo Radley?" And she said, "Well, if you know Boo, then you understand why I wouldn't be doing an interview, because I am really Boo." That is all she had to say to me. OK, I know we are not going to bring Boo Radley out to sit on the Oprah Oprah show. show.

I was honored to be able to have that time and communicate with her. That was very special, and I take it for what it is. She will be one of those people, like Jackie Ona.s.sis, who I also had wanted to interview, who told me no, and I honor that.

The way I felt about being turned down is exactly the way I felt about Jackie Ona.s.sis. In the end, I was glad that she didn't do it, that she was able to hold on to that for herself. I believe [Harper Lee] is never going to do an interview, and I am glad that she didn't. I am glad that she was able to hold on to that, because she is obviously a woman of great principles and integrity.

Andrew Young Andrew Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans. He has been the United States amba.s.sador to the United Nations, a congressman from Georgia, and was the mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990. Young was a minister who joined the Southern Christian Leaders.h.i.+p Conference in 1960 and worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr.

I wasn't much of a fiction reader. I read encyclopedias. I read weird stuff. I didn't sit down and read books until I was getting a little older. But I remember Atticus Finch. For me, he represents a generation of intelligent white lawyers who eventually, in the fifties and sixties, became the federal judges who changed the South. wasn't much of a fiction reader. I read encyclopedias. I read weird stuff. I didn't sit down and read books until I was getting a little older. But I remember Atticus Finch. For me, he represents a generation of intelligent white lawyers who eventually, in the fifties and sixties, became the federal judges who changed the South.

We didn't know very many white people of principle when I was a child-not any who were willing to stand up and challenge the system in any way. When I was in seminary, I worked for Adlai Stevenson. Then I came south to Georgia. Thomasville, Georgia, was my first church, and the black leaders.h.i.+p had asked me to run a voter registration drive to encourage people to vote for Eisenhower. And I said, "Why?" And they said, "Well, everywhere else it might not be the same, but if Eisenhower wins, he will appoint judges that are men of integrity and the most intelligent people in the South. And he will listen to us. We will have some input. The Democrats to be appointed are really Dixiecrats. And they're the old segregationists." So, for Georgia in 1956, Eisenhower was my choice. And he didn't let us down. Later on in the sixties, we marched from Selma to Montgomery in large measure to get to the court of Judge Frank Johnson-not that he was liberal, but he was fair. He believed in the Const.i.tution.

In Saint Augustine, Florida, in '64 they tried to beat us up, and the sheriff deputized the Ku Klux Klan and gave them permission to beat us. It was Judge Brian Simpson, another Eisenhower appointee, who upheld the Const.i.tution and protected us and our right to march. And that helped to bring about the pa.s.sage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

In school desegregation cases in New Orleans, it was Judge Minor Wisdom. In Atlanta it was Judge Griffin Bell and Judge Albert Tuttell. These were all the Southern intelligentsia-and they were Atticus Finch. They were the fine, upstanding men of wisdom and courage that really-without them we would not have had a civil rights movement.

To Kill a Mockingbird is like is like Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind. It describes an era of history that we know about glibly. But it gives us a sense of emerging humanism and decency. About that same time, or a little earlier, it was W. J. Cash, The Mind of the South The Mind of the South, which talked about people pitting the races against each other because they were both poor.

Another book was The Strange Career of Jim Crow The Strange Career of Jim Crow. We were aware of the harshness and brutality of segregation. In Birmingham, you had for the first time black people making union wages in the steel mills. And they began to build nice homes. Now these were veterans of service in the military who came back, went to school, got good jobs, and started building nice little homes-nothing fancy, just little three-bedroom frame houses. And there were more than sixty of those houses dynamited before we came to change the civil rights movement.

To Kill a Mockingbird gave us the background of that. But it also gave us hope that justice could prevail. I think that's one of the things that makes it a great story-it can be repeated in many different ways. I was always surprised at how much the j.a.panese liked gave us the background of that. But it also gave us hope that justice could prevail. I think that's one of the things that makes it a great story-it can be repeated in many different ways. I was always surprised at how much the j.a.panese liked Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind. But they liked the fact that this society had been destroyed by war and was reborn. And they identified their destruction and their resurrection with Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind.

I think To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird does that for the sixties. But the conditions that created it, still to this day in 2009, exist in some parts of the Middle East, Africa, China, India, also in some parts of Europe and America. It's not the legal injustices that we talked about in does that for the sixties. But the conditions that created it, still to this day in 2009, exist in some parts of the Middle East, Africa, China, India, also in some parts of Europe and America. It's not the legal injustices that we talked about in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird [that] still exist today. [that] still exist today.

There's a whole genre of police shows-CSI, Cold Case Cold Case, Law & Order Law & Order-and I find myself looking at them because quite often they're about people who are victims of injustice [in] one way or the other. And for the most part, justice prevails. We need to see that. We need to believe that in order to keep the society together. To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that inspires hope in the midst of chaos and confusion. And those kinds of books last for a long time. is a book that inspires hope in the midst of chaos and confusion. And those kinds of books last for a long time.

[The use of the word n.i.g.g.e.r n.i.g.g.e.r] is not something that is even resolved in the black community. I always used it as a term of affection and admiration. That's not the way white people tended to use it. But I think it's like any word. It's not the word itself, it's the intent and meaning of the word. I would say that is one of the great dangers of our public schools and our reactionary society. I heard that somebody wanted to ban Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Now that is the reality of her life. To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird was the reality of that time. I don't think it makes us any wiser or smarter to deny that. was the reality of that time. I don't think it makes us any wiser or smarter to deny that.

I can't read Richard Wright. That's too cruel. I had a hard time struggling through Roots Roots. I read The Diary of Anne Frank The Diary of Anne Frank, and I read a little of the existentialism that came out of the Holocaust. But the big books on the Holocaust I couldn't deal with emotionally. They made me too bitter. And that may be why I did not read To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird. I didn't need to read that. I knew what they were talking about. For somebody who didn't know, OK. But I had no intellectual curiosity about that. I had been through that with my life. I had been through that with my father, and my grandfather. It was too close to me. I remember Emmett Till and all of that drama around that. I was a part of the march around Jimmy Lee Jackson's death. And the three civil rights workers, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney. There was too much horror around me at the time for me to absorb more.

Now I think, though, it's different. Young people need to look back and realize how far we've come but how the seeds of that same insecurity still exist.

To Kill a Mockingbird was an act of protest, but it was [also] an act of humanity. was an act of protest, but it was [also] an act of humanity.

It was saying that we're not all like this. There are people who rise above their prejudices and even above the law.

Acknowledgments.

This all started on my back porch when I reread To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird for the for the third third time. I was looking for solace and found it. After that came inspiration. And then, my good friends and colleagues fueled me forward. time. I was looking for solace and found it. After that came inspiration. And then, my good friends and colleagues fueled me forward.

Connie Hays, from my girlhood summers, was first. A pithy purveyor of good instructions for life-how to coddle an egg for Caesar salad, interview a recalcitrant police sergeant, talk to your boss without crying, quell a child's tantrum-Connie was certain I should do this. And, as it always was with us, her confidence gave me confidence. Connie was kind and funny and brave. She left us entirely too soon and with no instructions for how to get along without her. I miss her all the time and I dedicate this project to her.

This never would have happened without the incredibly talented and generous Rich White, a magnificent director of photography. Cathleen McGuigan, my Newsweek Newsweek officemate in the eighties and friend ever since, kept my confidences and helped pave the way for me in places where I needed it most. Don Hewitt, once my boss at officemate in the eighties and friend ever since, kept my confidences and helped pave the way for me in places where I needed it most. Don Hewitt, once my boss at 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes, greeted this idea with his usual gusto and had nothing short of a zillion suggestions. His infectious enthusiasm in the early stages was heartening for me, and I am sorry he is not here to see this. greeted this idea with his usual gusto and had nothing short of a zillion suggestions. His infectious enthusiasm in the early stages was heartening for me, and I am sorry he is not here to see this.

A salute to the Ladies' Auxiliary: Rosanne Cash, Adriana Trigiani, Jenny Baldwin, Taylor Barton, Sheilah Crowley, Sheila Berger, Wren Arthur, Jane Martin, and Liz Tirrell. What began as a festive annual lunch has brought year-round sustenance and solidarity for more than a decade. On the subject of great women: Sarah Crichton sent me a letter I will never, ever, forget, and Kathy McMa.n.u.s gave me a leg up when I needed one.

I am grateful to all the people I interviewed, especially Wally Lamb.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Buerger and Romy Feder for research, to my former 60 Minutes 60 Minutes colleague Bryony k.o.c.kler, who lent her considerable skills to the project; and to Megan Axthelm Brown, a fantastic production manager and a remarkable person. colleague Bryony k.o.c.kler, who lent her considerable skills to the project; and to Megan Axthelm Brown, a fantastic production manager and a remarkable person.

Many more friends and colleagues heard me out, spurred me on, and gave me valuable feedback: Ben Cheever and Janet Maslin, Jennifer and Craig Whitaker, Frank Delaney and Diane Meier, Bob Mayer and Edie Magnus, Joan Jakobson, John Hays, Lynn Rabren and Joanne McDonough, Jane Beasley, Doreen Schechter, Tony Hoyt, Esther Kartiganer, Sarah Callahan Zusi, Mike Whitney, Cathy Lasiewicz, Ellen Hale, Pete Bonventre, Chris Seward, Gail Marowitz, Lisa Linden, Mary Dolan, Lynn Goldberg, Jon Alter, Chloe Arensberg, Chip Logan, Amanda Lundberg, Kari Granville and Peter Boyer, Charles Kaiser and Joe Stouter, Betsy West, Marilyn and Michael Seymour, Julie and Carol Kalberer, Tina Hester and Bob Garrett.

When it came time to turn everything into a book, agent Richard Pine made the experience positively dreamy, editor Hugh van Dusen was a true gentleman, and a.s.sistant editor Rob Crawford was a patient guide to the process. My thanks to Jarrod Taylor for his elegant design and to Kate Blum for manning the publicity barricades.

There have been no greater friends to this book, or to me, than Hal Fessenden and Pat Eisemann, two people well schooled in the ins and outs of publis.h.i.+ng. Their knowledge, support, and advice were indispensable throughout, as has been their friends.h.i.+p, humor, and original thinking.

Josh Howard and Debbie DeLuca Sheh are two people you want in your foxhole and on the next barstool. My 911s and 411s in life go to Emily Lazar, the Honorable Jen Laird White, and Saint Judith Tygard of Sleepy Hollow, and I am so much better because of them.

Two smart friends and neighbors, author Marilyn Johnson and editor Janet Pietsch, gave the ma.n.u.script a careful, constructive read as I sprinted toward the finish line, and it made all the difference.

My mother and sister, Susan and Martha Murphy, who know a lot about books, are the reason I read To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird in the first place. For this, their spirited company in life, and much more, I am very thankful. And, by the way, Mom, I do not hate your cooking. Thanks to my brothers, Dan and Patrick, for being on my side; sister and brother-in-law, Emily and Mark; and to my Murphy, Seymour, and McDonagh relatives-it's a great tribe. in the first place. For this, their spirited company in life, and much more, I am very thankful. And, by the way, Mom, I do not hate your cooking. Thanks to my brothers, Dan and Patrick, for being on my side; sister and brother-in-law, Emily and Mark; and to my Murphy, Seymour, and McDonagh relatives-it's a great tribe.