"To Kill a Mockingbird" Turns 50
Thursday, July 01 2010
by Frank Stasio and Susan Davis
harpercollins.com
It's hard to find an American, particularly a Southerner, who hasn't read, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Harper Lee's young adult novel, set in a small Alabama town during the Great Depression, explores issues of race and class, innocence and accusation, and the needs of the individual versus those of the community. The film adaptation features Gregory Peck's iconic portrayal of the widowed lawyer Atticus Finch. And the voice of Finch's young daughter Scout, who narrates the book, resonates across generations. Host Frank Stasio welcomes a collection of writers, teachers and thespians to discuss the book's enduring legacy. Guests include: Karla FC Holloway, James B. Duke Professor of English and professor of law, Duke University; Jay O’Berski and Regina Rouse from the Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern; Michael Malone, celebrated novelist and screenwriter and visiting professor of theater studies at Duke University; Minrose Gwin, professor of English and creative writing at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of the new novel, "The Queen of Palmyra," and Henry Walker, a teacher at Carolina Friends School who has taught "To Kill A Mockingbird" to eighth-graders for 15 years.
