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[CCBC-Net] Primary Sources: Harper Lee Up Close
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From: Katy Duffield <ksd3>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 20:31:53 -0500
Thanks for sharing your process, Kerry. I'm finding it fascinating! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of your book.
Best,
Katy Duffield www.katyduffield.com
On 5/19/09 7:51 PM, "Kerry Madden" <kiffnkerry at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> A wonderful author, Loretta Ellsworth, who wrote, IN SEARCH OF MOCKINGBIRD,
> sent me her materials about Monroeville before my first trip, which was a huge
> help, so I had an idea of where to start. I called Bunny Hines, the town
> librarian, who lent me a big file of clippings at the library to research.
> Angela Roberts, an Alabama Southern librarian, told me I had to talk George
> Thomas Jones, the town historian, and AB Blass, and Charles Ray Skinner.
> Jones, Skinner, and Blass all went to elementary school with Harper Lee and
> Truman Capote. Angela Roberts also arranged an interview with Jane Ellen
> Clark, the curator, whose mother went to school with Harper Lee.
>
> Basically one interview led to another. I think people were willing to talk to
> me because I told them this was a biography for children. So much of my
> writing career has been about getting children to write their own stories. I
> hoped that this biography might inspire kids to write their stories and pay
> attention to details in their own lives. I later did writing workshops in
> Monroe and Jackson Counties at different schools, and brought my ten-year-old
> daughter, Norah, who wrote about the experience of her first trip to Alabama.
> (She found the buzzards fascinating on the old back roads.)
>
> As for visitors, I would say the town of Monroeville is very used to visitors.
> They host the annual "Alabama Writers Symposium" through Alabama Southern the
> first weekend of May. This where writers receive the Harper Lee Award, and
> this year it was presented to Rick Bragg.
>
> Alabama Symposium Link
> http://www.ascc.edu/?DivisionID=2332&DepartmentID=2245&ToggleSideNav=ShowAll
>
> * * *
>
> At the Monroe County Courthouse, the play, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, is also done
> every year with local actors, and it sells out immediately for the May run.
> The first act is done outside, and the second act is held inside the
> courtroom. Harper Lee recently told visitors to the Museum that Henry Bumstead
> was "on his hands and knees measuring every inch of the oval courtroom."
> Bumstead won the Oscar for his art direction of the film.
>
> Monroe County Heritage
> Museum
> http://www.tokillamockingbird.com/
>
> * * *
>
> The restaurant I remembered is actually the Mockingbird Grill, not cafe, and
> it was the place to go after church. Referring to my sister's notes, Keely
> wrote: "Kerry and I ate lunch at the Mockingbird Grill.? It was a $10.95
> buffet of fried and barbeque chicken, deep fried okra, green beans stewing in
> bacon flavored water and grits with whole corn kernels. Everyone was in suits
> or dresses.? A thirteen-year-old girl in a pink suit that was too big for her
> told me that I looked 'sweet.'" Folks also eat at the Radley Cafe where they
> have incredible red velvet cake and David's Catfish is another favorite place
> in town.
> ?
> * * *
>
> Last November was an event that I was not in town to experience, and it about
> kills me not to have been there. The actress, Patricia Neal, read Truman
> Capote's A CHRISTMAS MEMORY at the Old Monroe County Courthouse with actor,
> Joe Vigg, and Harper Lee went to see the performance. I asked my friend,
> George Thomas Jones, if he went and, George, who is 88, said, "Kerry, those
> tickets were $35.00 dollars. That's Hollywood prices." Jane Ellen Clark, the
> curator, said it was a magical night, and it was the first time Harper Lee had
> been to see the museum at the Courthouse.
>
> Here is the link about Patricia Neal reading "A CHRISTMAS MEMORY."?
>
> Southern Literary Trail debuts next
> month
> http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/02/12/arts_and_entertainment/doc
> 49944ec94de52933265609.txt
>
> But stories led to more stories, and if somebody didn't want to answer
> question, I didn't push it. Sometimes, they'd say, "I don't want to talk about
> that now. I'll talk about that later, but I'll tell you this story now."
>
> So much of it was about listening and trying to imagine the world of
> Monroeville, Alabama before I ever wrote a word.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> All best
> Kerry Madden
>
> UP CLOSE: HARPER LEE
> "My needs are simple: pen, paper, and privacy." Harper Lee, 1961
> www.kerrymadden.com
>
>
> --- On Tue, 5/19/09, Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> From: Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Primary Sources: Harper Lee Up Close
> To: "CCBC-NET" <ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 6:38 AM
>
> Thank you Kerry, for the wonderful start to our conversation!
> It seems that the old-fashioned method of people-to-people networking
> was more beneficial that an internet search on your subject.
>
> While it's clear that you were able to have some rewarding conversations
> with particular individuals, I'm curious about the overall atmosphere in
> Monroeville.
> Were residents used to visitors? With a
> place like the Mockingbird
> Cafe, was the town laden with literary spin-offs? What do you think
> made people open (or closed) to conversation about your book?
>
> I look forward to hearing more about your
> research
> journey, as well as
> hearing other thoughts and questions from the CCBC-Net community.
>
> Tessa
Received on Tue 19 May 2009 08:31:53 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 20:31:53 -0500
Thanks for sharing your process, Kerry. I'm finding it fascinating! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of your book.
Best,
Katy Duffield www.katyduffield.com
On 5/19/09 7:51 PM, "Kerry Madden" <kiffnkerry at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> A wonderful author, Loretta Ellsworth, who wrote, IN SEARCH OF MOCKINGBIRD,
> sent me her materials about Monroeville before my first trip, which was a huge
> help, so I had an idea of where to start. I called Bunny Hines, the town
> librarian, who lent me a big file of clippings at the library to research.
> Angela Roberts, an Alabama Southern librarian, told me I had to talk George
> Thomas Jones, the town historian, and AB Blass, and Charles Ray Skinner.
> Jones, Skinner, and Blass all went to elementary school with Harper Lee and
> Truman Capote. Angela Roberts also arranged an interview with Jane Ellen
> Clark, the curator, whose mother went to school with Harper Lee.
>
> Basically one interview led to another. I think people were willing to talk to
> me because I told them this was a biography for children. So much of my
> writing career has been about getting children to write their own stories. I
> hoped that this biography might inspire kids to write their stories and pay
> attention to details in their own lives. I later did writing workshops in
> Monroe and Jackson Counties at different schools, and brought my ten-year-old
> daughter, Norah, who wrote about the experience of her first trip to Alabama.
> (She found the buzzards fascinating on the old back roads.)
>
> As for visitors, I would say the town of Monroeville is very used to visitors.
> They host the annual "Alabama Writers Symposium" through Alabama Southern the
> first weekend of May. This where writers receive the Harper Lee Award, and
> this year it was presented to Rick Bragg.
>
> Alabama Symposium Link
> http://www.ascc.edu/?DivisionID=2332&DepartmentID=2245&ToggleSideNav=ShowAll
>
> * * *
>
> At the Monroe County Courthouse, the play, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, is also done
> every year with local actors, and it sells out immediately for the May run.
> The first act is done outside, and the second act is held inside the
> courtroom. Harper Lee recently told visitors to the Museum that Henry Bumstead
> was "on his hands and knees measuring every inch of the oval courtroom."
> Bumstead won the Oscar for his art direction of the film.
>
> Monroe County Heritage
> Museum
> http://www.tokillamockingbird.com/
>
> * * *
>
> The restaurant I remembered is actually the Mockingbird Grill, not cafe, and
> it was the place to go after church. Referring to my sister's notes, Keely
> wrote: "Kerry and I ate lunch at the Mockingbird Grill.? It was a $10.95
> buffet of fried and barbeque chicken, deep fried okra, green beans stewing in
> bacon flavored water and grits with whole corn kernels. Everyone was in suits
> or dresses.? A thirteen-year-old girl in a pink suit that was too big for her
> told me that I looked 'sweet.'" Folks also eat at the Radley Cafe where they
> have incredible red velvet cake and David's Catfish is another favorite place
> in town.
> ?
> * * *
>
> Last November was an event that I was not in town to experience, and it about
> kills me not to have been there. The actress, Patricia Neal, read Truman
> Capote's A CHRISTMAS MEMORY at the Old Monroe County Courthouse with actor,
> Joe Vigg, and Harper Lee went to see the performance. I asked my friend,
> George Thomas Jones, if he went and, George, who is 88, said, "Kerry, those
> tickets were $35.00 dollars. That's Hollywood prices." Jane Ellen Clark, the
> curator, said it was a magical night, and it was the first time Harper Lee had
> been to see the museum at the Courthouse.
>
> Here is the link about Patricia Neal reading "A CHRISTMAS MEMORY."?
>
> Southern Literary Trail debuts next
> month
> http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/02/12/arts_and_entertainment/doc
> 49944ec94de52933265609.txt
>
> But stories led to more stories, and if somebody didn't want to answer
> question, I didn't push it. Sometimes, they'd say, "I don't want to talk about
> that now. I'll talk about that later, but I'll tell you this story now."
>
> So much of it was about listening and trying to imagine the world of
> Monroeville, Alabama before I ever wrote a word.
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> All best
> Kerry Madden
>
> UP CLOSE: HARPER LEE
> "My needs are simple: pen, paper, and privacy." Harper Lee, 1961
> www.kerrymadden.com
>
>
> --- On Tue, 5/19/09, Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> From: Tessa Michaelson <tmichaelson at education.wisc.edu>
> Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] Primary Sources: Harper Lee Up Close
> To: "CCBC-NET" <ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu>
> Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 6:38 AM
>
> Thank you Kerry, for the wonderful start to our conversation!
> It seems that the old-fashioned method of people-to-people networking
> was more beneficial that an internet search on your subject.
>
> While it's clear that you were able to have some rewarding conversations
> with particular individuals, I'm curious about the overall atmosphere in
> Monroeville.
> Were residents used to visitors? With a
> place like the Mockingbird
> Cafe, was the town laden with literary spin-offs? What do you think
> made people open (or closed) to conversation about your book?
>
> I look forward to hearing more about your
> research
> journey, as well as
> hearing other thoughts and questions from the CCBC-Net community.
>
> Tessa
Received on Tue 19 May 2009 08:31:53 PM CDT
