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| Harper Lee 1926-2016 |
- Atticus Finch
- Harper Lee
Harper Lee died today. She was 89. She was to be remembered for writing one great American novel - and then nothing. But a few years ago the Go Tell a Watchman manuscript was discovered and her life and legacy became complicated.
By the way, we've had this book for over a year but I have not yet brought myself to read it. I, of course, have read To Kill a Mockingbird several times, seen the film three times and have seen a few plays - some good and some not so good. (One was in such a small venue that we, the audience, had to fill in as jurors in the trial scene. )
So, did Harper Lee write the Watchman book? Probably, I don't know for sure. But I do know that she wrote other things.
Harper Lee wrote a wonderful story that was published in the great McCalls Magazine in 1961. It's a true story about a Christmas she, Harper, spent in New York. She was working for an airline and couldn't get the day off to go home to Alabama. She was also discouraged because she couldn't afford to quite working and write.
She spent the evening, after work with her closet friends in Manhattan. She describes them as young but "periodically well-to-do. The family had small gifts for each other, a lot of them. Harper received nothing. Finally the woman said, "We haven't forgotten you. Look on the tree." There was an envelope on the tree. She opened it and it said:
You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.
This couple believed in Harper so much that they made this financial sacrifice for her. I was astounded by this story. I can still remember the feeling I had when I read it back then.
Don't know if you can find it but the title is Christmas to Me, published in McCalls in December, 1961.
Harper Lee, rest in peace.
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