"...But Remember It's A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird."

Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird. The author, Harper Lee, passed away seven years ago. I doubt that her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, has been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel in 2015.

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird. I graduated from high school in the mid-60's and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have that paperback, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained after several readings by me and my children.

Scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained

In the face of political correctness and wokeism, Mockingbird has recently come under attack for its language (the N-word and other slurs) and subject (rape) as well as its portrayal of oppression and paternalism. Today, movements to ban the book from schools and libraries have resulted in only one outright banning but the controversy has unfortunately rendered the book untouchable as a learning tool in middle and high schools across the nation.

For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes which appeared in The New York Times on February 19, 2016.

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title, famous quote from the book