In July, while visiting my family in Pittsburgh, I rewatched the classic movie “To Kill A Mockingbird” with my sister.  It’s one of those films that never grows old or dated and does true justice to the book on which it is based.  Since this year (July 11, 2025) marks the 65th anniversary of the book’s publication, I thought I’d share my 2021 post for those who may have missed it.  Harper Lee’s brilliant book certainly doesn’t need promotion, but it’s one I can’t talk about enough.  Here goes:

A powerful portrait of racism (and “otherism”) in the 1930s, To Kill A Mockingbird is a book I turn to for its fine writing, its rich characters, its powerful story, and its morality.  Harper Lee still makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me mad, frightens me, and breaks my heart.

I was first exposed to the movie, which came to television when I was a preteen.  I loved Scout and Jem and Atticus, of course, and was fascinated by the Boo Radley story, especially since we’d had Old Hairy,* our own neighborhood Boo, our own “other”.  But the character that haunted me was Tom Robinson.

What stayed with me was the scared feeling that came with wondering if someone I loved could so easily be wrongly accused and wrongly convicted, even with a lawyer as competent and courageous as Atticus Finch.

Later, when I read Harper Lee’s novel, I fell head over heels for it.

Now, as an adult, when I consider Tom Robinson—his victimization—when I consider Atticus and Jem, Scout and Boo, when I consider the heart of this book, I wonder what today’s young readers come away with.  I can’t control how others experience Mockingbird (or any book), and I wouldn’t want to, but my hope is that readers will, on some level, recognize the moral core that gives each of us the will to do what’s right, regardless of outcome.

Harper Lee’s work burrowed into my soul, took up residence, and continues to reveal its presence.  To Kill a Mockingbird is a book well worth reading and re-reading for soul searching and deep discussion, but mostly to laugh, to cry, to get mad, to get scared, and to get your heart broken—in a good way.

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* A character in my novel Mayfield Crossing (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1993)