Rest in Peace Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a favorite of mine. But I have to say a little something about Harper Lee’s wonderful friends, fans, and editor. I blogged about Lee and her novels three times in July 2015 but as the world grieves her death I have to agree with the African proverb that, “it takes a village to raise a child”.

In 2014 Sean Braswell told the story of how a “village” supported Lee’s creative dream: “In 1956 Lee was a rather taciturn 30-year-old ticket agent for the British Overseas Airways Company, who, like many aspiring writers, had come to New York City to pursue her dream. But after seven years of struggle, it seemed beyond her grasp. And without further help, and with no Kickstarter for another 53 years, that is perhaps where her dream would have ended.

Luckily, thanks to an introduction from Truman Capote, her childhood friend and neighbor, Lee had made two very good friends in New York: a Broadway composer named Michael Brown and his wife, Joy, a Balanchine dancer.

Lee became a bona fide extension of the Brown family, and any free time she had that was not devoted to writing was spent with Michael, Joy and their three boys at the Browns’ East 50th Street brownstone. The Browns had read Lee’s short stories, and they appreciated her dream — and her immense gift — better than anyone. They also shared her frustration at the challenges of writing while holding down a full-time job.

The Browns did not want to see Lee spend her life working as an airlines clerk while hoping to become something else.

So, in the fall of 1956, when the Browns came into some cash because Michael had been hired to create a show for Esquire magazine, they decided to do something about Lee’s situation and to give their friend a big break — literally. When Lee opened her Christmas present from the couple that year, she found a note that read: ‘You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.’

In short order, Lee quit her job, got an agent and devoted herself to writing. Just over a year later, she had a finished manuscript and a publisher. And the result of the Browns’ generous gift (which Lee later repaid in full) and Lee’s newfound freedom was no less than the Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling novel of the 20th century, To Kill a Mockingbird .”

To Kill a Mockingbird still sells 750,000 copies each year. What writer wouldn’t be thrilled with simply selling 750,000 copies in a lifetime? And what writer wouldn’t welcome a couple of angel investors as well as an astute agent/editor/publisher?

We are all grateful for Lee’s friends and their undying support. But even with all this support, Lee’s editor, Tay Hohoff, didn’t believe Lee’s manuscript was fit for publication. She described it as “more a series of antidotes than a fully conceived novel.” According to Jonathan Mahler, Hohoff worked with Lee for three years before Mockingbird appeared on bookshelves in 1960.

We now see where Mockingbird came from—Go Set a Watchman was the original manuscript that was published last year amid overwhelming controversy. Yes, it’s one of those good novels like so many I read and put down with a sigh. You just know that as good as it is, it’s not going to be a best seller or a ‘change the world’ piece of literature. (I’ve also blogged about this on January fourth of this year: How Harper Collins Cheated Wiley Cash.) So many writers, myself included, never have the good fortune to have our manuscripts picked up by someone like Tay Hohoff who can help us turn our good novels into great novels. Harper Lee could have lived out her life as a ticket agent chasing a dream that was not to be. Instead, she allowed the village to hold her up and let her fly. And the world is a better place because of her.

                                                                             Leo L. Fuchs/Universal Pictures/Photofest

And as long as the world goes on, we’ll remember Atticus, Scout, Jem, Tom Robinson, and Boo with endearment. 

Whose Pulitzer Prize Is It? To Kill A Mockingbird.

Five years ago, on the 50^th anniversary of the publication of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Louisa Thomas asked the same question I’m going to ask today—Who really wrote ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?

 I can’t help wondering about Harper Lee’s agent and publisher’s involvement during the almost three years  before ‘Mockingbird’ appeared on bookshelves in 1960. According to her editor at J.B. Lippincott (Tay Hohoff), Nelle Harper Lee’s manuscript was by no means fit for publication. Hohoff described it, “more a series of antidotes than a fully conceived novel and by no means fit for publication.” (The Invisible Hand Behind Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Jonathan Mahler of The New York Times).

Tay Hohoff saw hope for the world when a white lawyer would go full out to represent a Black man. Before all the Civil Rights Leaders of the 50s and 60s there was Atticus Finch showing us ‘freedom for all’. But this idea doesn’t seem to be Harper Lee’s.

When I was new to writing, I submitted a rough draft of my first novel to Gardenia Press, in Wisconsin. The small mid-west press was a far cry from the big publishing houses in NYC but I’d searched for a couple of years for somebody to accept or at least appreciate my writing. I believe Harper Lee did the same. I worked with my editor, Elizabeth Collins, for over a year changing the story from first person to third and learning about point of view and voice, scene breaks and strong verbs. The story slowly improved until Elizabeth suggested I enter it the company’s First Novel Writing Contest 2001 where I won an honorable mention. Gardenia still didn’t think the novel was ready for publication so Elizabeth and I spent another year battling it out. In 2003, Gardenia Press published ‘Child of My Heart’. As much help as I received from Elizabeth Collins, ‘Child’ remained entirely mine. Elizabeth took a heartfelt story and made me write it in proper English.

When I think of Tay Hohoff I’m astonished. Harper Lee brought a subpar novel to Hohoff, a genius editor, and after years of revisions ‘Go Set A Watchman’ evolved into ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’—a best seller, an acclaimed novel, and the winner of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But who really deserved the Prize?

Tay Hohoff assisted Lee in turning, “a distressing narrative filled with characters spouting hate speech” (MichikoKakutani, chief book critic of The New York Times) into one of the most popular and beloved books of all time. Which brings me to this: The 72-year-old Atticus Finch in ‘Watchman’ is not the wise and heroic young lawyer of ‘Mockingbird’ and this older Atticus was a man both Tay Hohoff and Harper Lee refused to show the world. Tay Hohoff died in 1974 at the age of 75. Nelle Harper Lee suffered a stroke in 2007 and is by many accounts completely deaf and blind. Lee is 89 years old and resides in an assisted living facility in Alabama. So who in the world allowed ‘Watchman’ to be published? Tonja Carter, Lee’s estate trustee, lawyer, and friend? And why didn’t Lee or Carter change the character’s names since ‘Watchman’ and ‘Mockingbird’ are supposed to be two completely different stories? I am personally heartsick at the change in Atticus Finch as he aged. It’s an abomination of the character of a beloved American icon.

I guess we’ll see in the coming weeks if ‘Watchman’ flies or bombs. If it bombs then I say the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction should be re-awarded to Tay Hohoff.