Historic Figures
WITH THE NAME LEE
Harper Lee is an important American figure by virtue of her publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird†in 1960 which won the Pulitzer Prize. Her contribution to American literature would eventually win her the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 2007. Harper grew up in Alabama and modeled the book’s heroine, Scout Finch, after herself. She was the daughter of a small town, respected attorney, and she herself was a precocious tomboy. The novel deals with 10-year-old Scout’s observations of racial injustice as her father defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Her innate, innocent belief in the goodness of human nature is sorely tested as she and her family end up on the receiving end of this hatred. She emerges triumphantly in the end with a more adult perspective on the existence of evil while still keeping her sense of goodness intact.
Harper Lee is an important American figure by virtue of her publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird†in 1960 which won the Pulitzer Prize. Her contribution to American literature would eventually win her the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 2007. Harper grew up in Alabama and modeled the book’s heroine, Scout Finch, after herself. She was the daughter of a small town, respected attorney, and she herself was a precocious tomboy. The novel deals with 10-year-old Scout’s observations of racial injustice as her father defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Her innate, innocent belief in the goodness of human nature is sorely tested as she and her family end up on the receiving end of this hatred. She emerges triumphantly in the end with a more adult perspective on the existence of evil while still keeping her sense of goodness intact.
Needs no introduction, no explanation, no biography, no commentary – she simply is. Born July 28, 1929, she died on May 19, 1994, and lived an amazing life in those 64 years. Born to privileged wealth with old world credentials, she was both a debutante and a “working girl†of the fifties. She married into more wealth and brought a needed polish and class to the Kennedy clan. As First Lady, she reintroduced a style and grace to the White House that had been sadly lacking, and she restored the manse to its historical splendor as a symbol of pride for all Americans. She and President Kennedy symbolized youth and energy, and with their adorable children, became our very own “royal family†in the most democratic of ways. After all too short a reign, Mrs. Kennedy held a grieving nation together during the dark days of the assassination and its aftermath, through the example of her own quiet dignity. She had practically achieved sainthood. Then - oops – she went and married a little old Greek billionaire oil tycoon with shadowy credentials, and a shocked populace said†“WHAT??!!†An international jet-set lifestyle followed, during which time it seemed she spent whatever spare time she had from the yachts and private planes in Tiffany’s. Nonetheless, we still hung on her every whispery word and clamored for more and more pictures and stories offered up by a willing paparazzi. This avid attention continued into her later years, when she settled down in New York with her companion and concentrated on her publishing career, civic causes and her family. Probably the most famous woman of the last century, she was one of a kind – iconic, intelligent, elegant, and yet aloof enough to remain a mystery in the glare of the spotlight. By our feminist standards today, she may have seemed a little too much in the “stand-by-your-man†mold, but there is no doubt that she made her own indelible mark on the world.
Harper Lee is an important American figure by virtue of her publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird†in 1960 which won the Pulitzer Prize. Her contribution to American literature would eventually win her the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 2007. Harper grew up in Alabama and modeled the book’s heroine, Scout Finch, after herself. She was the daughter of a small town, respected attorney, and she herself was a precocious tomboy. The novel deals with 10-year-old Scout’s observations of racial injustice as her father defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Her innate, innocent belief in the goodness of human nature is sorely tested as she and her family end up on the receiving end of this hatred. She emerges triumphantly in the end with a more adult perspective on the existence of evil while still keeping her sense of goodness intact.
