The 50th anniversary of "To Kill A Mockingbird"
 

"To Kill A Mockingbird" - Still Moving People 50 Years Later

Today is the 50th anniversary of this amazing novel. In that 50 years this Pulitzer Prize winner was never out of print, and has never stopped teaching its noble truths.

Harper Lee was inspired to write the book by her own father, who was a lawyer and defended a black man in a murder case. He was reportedly so inconsolable after losing that case that he never practiced law again.

Harper Lee wrote her book, and when it took off and became a runaway success, she went back home and never wrote another book. But if you're only going to write one book ... what a book!

ABC News did a feature tonight on "To Kill A Mockingbird" and named Harper Lee, who is now 84, their person of the week.

Harper Lee, 50 Years After 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_A_Mockingbird

*edit* Whenever there's a discussion about role models, I never say it out loud, but Atticus Finch pops into my head every time.

I'm still gloating that AFI named Atticus Finch the greatest hero. I know thats for the movie adaptation but that also was a classic.

They also have a 50th anniversary edition out in hardcover, its really nice! I'm thinking about picking it up and reading it again. We read it in high school, I threw a bitchfit at all the people who didn't read the book and watched the movie instead.

Also, I found out recently that the trial was also based on the Scottsboro Boys Trial.

Oh, That's interesting. Now I think I'll go back and read that whole Wikipedia article that I glossed over.

By the way, the various versions of "To Kill A Mockingbird" that are currently available are listed at the U.S. Amazon.com site HERE, including the 50 year anniversary edition you were talking about as well as the "Literature Made Easy Series" edition.

The Canadian link is HERE.

:-( - Netflix only has the movie as a DVD by mail ... no Instant Watch option.