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    Cam/ronMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 12:34pm

    "The possibility that Lee would object to someone writing a book about her will not surprise anyone who's followed her career."

    There is a very old rumor that Capote actually wrote, "Mockingbird" as a favor for Lee. The suspicion is that she spent the new few decades trying to hide that matter.

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      Michelle DeanCam/ron
      7/18/14 12:36pm

      Mills records in her book that Lee thoroughly denies this. As did Capote.

      Also gotta tell you I find it a pretty bald example of sexism that the rumor is repeated so often without a single shred of evidence.

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      JohnTChanceCam/ron
      7/18/14 12:48pm

      I saw "Capote" and there was no evidence of that in the film.

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    MuscatoMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 12:42pm

    A messy situation at best. Awful to think that you can be as successful as someone like Harper Lee (or as rich as someone like the Duchess of Windsor) and still in old age lose all one's autonomy by falling into the wrong hands.

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      HatingarnoldMuscato
      7/18/14 1:00pm

      Or, Harper Lee agreed to everything and has buyer's remorse.

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      sugarpussosheaMuscato
      7/18/14 6:25pm

      So glad you mentioned the Duchess - this totally reminded me of Caroline Blackwood's book about her.

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    adamsankMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 12:47pm

    This is a very sad story. But for me, it highlights the importance of NOT being reclusive, especially when one is a celebrity. If you don't speak publicly for yourself, it becomes easier for others to speak for you, especially as you age and your health declines.

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      JimEmeryadamsank
      7/19/14 3:27pm

      This is somewhat like what happened to Salinger, her near-contemporary. He withdrew from public life and had nuts following him around for the next 40 years, until he died.

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      adamsankJimEmery
      7/20/14 9:01pm

      Exactly. Give an interview once in a while. Make a public appearance or two each year. It seems like a small price to pay to keep one's self connected to reality.

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    ardenatworkMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 12:41pm

    Retired at the age of 99? Smell that, Millenials? That's the smell of your future.

    "Great Literature" and I don't get along, or at least I can never fathom what makes it so great. Mockingbird was about a racist little town being racist, and the big moral lesson at the end was Scout realizing her mean scary neighbor isn't actually mean at all, because it's what's on the inside that counts...which is a lesson I heard repeated seven times every Saturday morning over the course of my cartoons.

    A lesson, by the way, made ever more memorable when it comes from a Native American jumping out of an F-16 than some pre-teen hick in a racist shithole of a village.

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      Mangini In A Bottleardenatwork
      7/18/14 12:52pm

      Thanks for stopping by!

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      Hatingarnoldardenatwork
      7/18/14 1:01pm

      You have committed the sin of not loving To Kill a Mockingbird. Be prepared.

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    JohnTChanceMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 12:37pm

    Not all attorneys are like Atticus, I guess.

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      roninmasterJohnTChance
      7/18/14 12:58pm

      So true. No real-life lawyer has probably done more for the self-image or public perception of the legal profession than Atticus Finch.

      Gregory Peck: Just from this role alone I'd consider him one of the greatest actors of all time. He was magnificent. What a timeless classic.

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      vassaproninmaster
      7/18/14 1:57pm

      Not to mention FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE.

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    KumquatRodeoMichelle Dean
    7/18/14 1:13pm

    FWIW, having living for decades in Alabama I will offer that the Lees are not so much reclusive as media shy. To me it looked like they participated in society just fine, they just didn't want to be inundated with outside press stuff.

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      Alonso QuijanaMichelle Dean
      7/18/14 1:04pm

      Thank you so much for this post. I'd seen bits and pieces of the story, but I hadn't gotten such a comprehensive overview till now. I'm also writing to brag that I got to meet Miss Lee when I was in college (at our shared alma mater, about 13 years ago). She was feisty and charming, but even though I was a rather thoughtless undergrad, I remember the clear impression that her literary and cultural accomplishment was still both blessing and curse to her.

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        Jerry-NetherlandMichelle Dean
        7/18/14 2:21pm

        What on earth could be so salacious about the Lee sisters' story? Unless, of course, Nelle and Alice were up to that thing the Gish sisters had going on. Allegedly.

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          LawshelleyMichelle Dean
          7/18/14 12:43pm

          The father of a family I used to babysit for is a professional pianist who went to Julliard. To make ends meet while he was there, he would often teach piano. One young student of his lived in the same apartment building and on the same floor as Harper Lee. This was the '70's and, apparently, Harper Lee was a raging alcoholic that you could hear screaming all the way down the hallway.

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            Swarles BarkleyLawshelley
            7/18/14 1:53pm
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            Pie SnatcherLawshelley
            7/18/14 2:18pm

            Hell, if I spent that much time with Capote I would have a drinking problem too.

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          RussianistMichelle Dean
          7/18/14 12:32pm

          Even though you can't explicitly point out the source of all this chaos, understandably because litigious attorneys (especially, just for example, those riding a wealthy client's gravy train) are litigious, rest assured we know what's going on here.

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