Hey Boo

It will be 50 years on Sunday that To Kill a Mockingbird was published. I first read it on my own in college since, for some reason, I got all the way through school without having it assigned to me. And I know I'm not being original at all when I say that this book changed me, changed the way I thought about stories and their characters, and made me wish Ms. Lee had published more books. It remains one of my all-time favorites.

Later I saw the film with Gregory Peck and was again blown away. Movies are never as good as the book, but in my humble opinion, this one comes the closest. Hearing the music from the score or Kim Stanley's voice in narration puts me right there again with Scout and Jem and all of them in Maycomb.

A documentary by Mary McDonagh Murphy called "Hey Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird" comes out soon {or has already come out or something - I'm still not too clear on the details}. I'm so interested to see it and learn more about this great book and the woman who brought it to life. And watching the preview has only intrigued me more.

And if you're interested in reading a great article about the 50th anniversay of the novel, I suggest you check out this great one by Lynn Neary at NPR.