I came to Harper Lee not through high school English class, but through my love of Truman Capote. Capote, it turns out, was the real life inspiration for Dill Harris. If you love facts and trivia, and are looking to dive deeper into Harper Lee’s life, you can use Kanopy to stream the documentary, Harper Lee: From Mockingbird to Watchman. The film is an update to Mary McDonagh Murphy’s 2011 documentary Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird. (You’ll need access to Kanopy, through your UARK login).
Harper Lee: From Mockingbird to Watchman, “sifts through the facts and speculation surrounding Lee and both her novels, and includes interviews with Lee’s older sister, close friends, and admirers including Oprah Winfrey, Scott Turow, Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, Wally Lamb and more.”
Then, read Lee’s 1961 nonfiction article published in McCalls titled, “Christmas To Me.” The piece, which is about receiving the gift that would allow her to go on to write To Kill a Mockingbird, begins, “Several years ago, I was living in New York and working for an airline, so I never got home to Alabama for Christmas–if, indeed, I got the day off. To a displaced Southerner, Christmas in New York can be rather a melancholy occasion, not because the scene is strange to one far from home, but because it is familiar: New York shoppers evince the same singleness of purpose as slow moving Southerners; Salvation Army bands and Christmas carols are alike the world over: at that time of year, New York streets shine wet with the same gentle farmer’s rain that soaks Alabama’s winter fields.”
Or, especially if you haven’t read them yet, check out one of Lee’s books. To Kill a Mockingbird is Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel that has sold nearly 5 million copies (then watch the Oscar winning film). Go Set a Watchman was first published just last year.