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To Kill A Trust

Aug 01, 2013
by Caroline Miller
" copyright theft, "To Steal a Mockingbird, Lee Harper, Mark Seal, To Kill a Mockingbird
4 Comments

When Lee Harper was asked if the reason why she never wrote a novel after To Kill a Mockingbird was because she didn’t want to compete with herself, the author replied, “Not just no, but hell no.” (“To Steal a Mockingbird,” by Mark Seal, Vanity Fair, August, 2013, pg.112) She stopped writing, she said, because she didn’t like the business of publishing, plain and simple. Particularly, she didn’t like reporters and despaired at how fame had destroyed her good friend, Truman Capote. (Ibid pg. 112)

 Her distrust of the business was well placed, because Lee Harper, whose book appears in 40 languages and still sells over 750,000 a year, at 87, frail and suffering from macular degeneration, has become embroiled in a legal fight for control over her creation, having innocently signed over her copyright to her agent. John Steinbeck suffered the same fate from the same agency.

 Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it, someone wisely said. Harper was smart enough to know the truth of the saying. The spotlight of success casts shadows that can alter relationships. She kept a low profile and worked hard to be honest to herself and others, hoping to avoid fame’s pitfalls. Her efforts failed because she has suffered the unkindest cut of all: betrayal by someone close.

 Lee Harper wrote a book that encouraged us to rethink our values and to strive to understand one another. Now she’s suffering for it.

Atticus Finch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” courtesy of luckycharms.net)

 

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4 Comments
  1. tuna cole August 1, 2013 at 11:47 am Reply
    Caroline, the author's name is Harper Lee, NOT Lee Harper! Were you just testing your readership to see if anyone is paying attention?...
    • Caroline Miller August 1, 2013 at 12:15 pm Reply
      Oh Tuna Cole, I wish I could say I was just testing my readers but nope, you caught me in a good old fashioned snafu. Brain must have been working backwards that day. It sometimes does. I'm not going to change it, though. Your comment is a reminder that I need always be humble. Love it that you caught me. What a laugh.
  2. Kitty Miller August 5, 2013 at 10:29 am Reply
    Dear Caroline! To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite movie of all time, and not only because my best aunt grew up in a tiny Alabama town in the 30's....and was the same age as Scout (and Harper Lee). Even with my devotion to that story, my brain glossed right over the snafu of Miss Harper's name, in a rush to get to your comments. You give Andy Rooney a good run for the money....what a delight!
    • Caroline Miller August 5, 2013 at 10:34 am Reply
      I feel so lucky that I have forgiving readers. Thank you for chiming in Kitty. You make my steps today a little lighter.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published five novels

  • Getting Lost To Find Home
  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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