Mockingbird Songs: My Friendship with Harper Lee

by Wayne Flynt

Overview

An indelible portrait of one of the most famous and beloved authors in the canon of American literature—a collection of letters between Harper Lee and one of her closest friends that reveals the famously private writer as never before, in her own words.

The violent racism of the American South drove Wayne Flynt away from his home state of Alabama, but the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s classic novel about courage, community, and equality, inspired him to return in the early 1960s and craft a career documenting and teaching Alabama history. His writing resonated with many Alabamians, in particular three sisters: Louise, Alice, and Nelle Harper Lee. Beginning with their first meeting in 1983, a mutual respect and affection for the state’s history and literature matured into a deep friendship between two families who can trace their roots there back more than five generations.

Flynt and Nelle Harper Lee began writing to one other while she was living in New York—heartfelt, insightful, and humorous letters in which they swapped stories, information, and opinions on topics both personal and professional: their families, books, Alabama history and social values, health concerns, and even their fears and accomplishments. Though their earliest missives began formally—"Dear Dr. Flynt"—as the years passed and their mutual admiration grew, their exchanges became more intimate and emotional, opening with "Dear Friend" and closing with "I love you, Nelle." Through their enduring correspondence, the Lees and the Flynts became completely immersed in each other’s lives.

Beautifully written, intelligent, and telling, this remarkable compendium of their letters—a correspondence that lasted for a quarter century, from 1992 until Harper Lee’s death in February 2016—offers an incisive and compelling look into the mind, heart, and work of one of the most beloved authors in modern literary history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062660107
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	251
Sales rank:	758,656
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Dr. Wayne Flynt, professor emeritus in the department of history at Auburn University, is the author of thirteen books and one of the most recognized and honored scholars of Southern history, politics, and religion. He has won numerous teaching awards and has been a distinguished university professor for many years. He lives in Alabama.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

1 In the Beginning 15

2 Celebrity, Kinship, and Calamity 27

3 Imperfect Fathers, Imperfect Towns 43

4 Contemporary Biography, Literary Disputes 67

5 Legacy and Change 85

6 An Author Shapes Her Own Identity 99

7 The Stroke and a Forced Return Home 113

8 Marble Lady/Authentic Woman 137

9 Adulation and Isolation 155

10 To Everything a Season 173

Postscript 193

Appendix: Eulogy for Nelle Harper Lee 201

Acknowledgments 211

Editorial Reviews

03/20/2017
Southern historian Flynt (Keeping the Faith) shares his relationship with Harper Lee in a series of affectionate, playful, and mutually admiring letters. The correspondence between Flynt and Lee—known by her birth name, Nelle, to family and friends—documents the literary history of Alabama, the enduring appeal of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the vanishing art of letter writing. Mainly spanning 2004–2009, Lee’s letters are by and large discussions of infirmities, logistical details for visits, flattering remarks on Flynt’s work and family, and reports on the various honors heaped upon her. They also reveal Lee’s awe at Mockingbird’s legacy (“It’s really incredible what is read into—or what people find in—that story”), the truth behind Go Set a Watchman (published to rumors of dementia and exploitation that Flynt roundly debunks), and Lee’s—mostly scathing—opinions of literary biographies. Flynt is a fluent writer in his own right, but the main rewards here lie in Lee’s tart observations on the modern world, sly sense of humor, and wonderful turns of phrase. Letters from Lee’s sister, Alice, round out the collection, which concludes with Flynt’s eulogy for Lee, a contemplation on the themes of her classic novel. Overall, the book provides a satisfying glimpse of a famously reserved literary great. Agent: Andrew Nurnberg, Andrew Nurnberg Associates. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Provides revealing portraits of the very private Nelle and her sisters…. [A] welcome snapshot of the ‘real’ Lee.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Harper Lee did not make friends easily, especially after the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird.  In Wayne Flynt she found a kindred soul who loved literature and despised intolerance.  Their letters are thoughtful,understanding, insightful, and reveal what became a special friendship. Thank goodness Mr. Flynt saved them!” — John Grisham

From the Publisher

Harper Lee did not make friends easily, especially after the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird.  In Wayne Flynt she found a kindred soul who loved literature and despised intolerance.  Their letters are thoughtful,understanding, insightful, and reveal what became a special friendship. Thank goodness Mr. Flynt saved them!

John Grisham

04/01/2017
Flynt (emeritus history, Auburn Univ., AL) is the author of 13 books on Southern history, politics, and religion. This volume, which celebrates his 20-plus year (which included a break of 12 years) friendship with (Nelle) Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, formed late in both of their lives, is largely an epistolary memoir. The historian and the novelist wrote to each other about friends and family, mutually shared interests such as Alabama history and literature, and matters of health. As their relationship progressed, so did the intertwining of their families. Flynt and his wife, Dartie, came to know Lee's sisters and nephew; their son named his daughter Harper, after the author. Flynt's discretion, as a friend and as the Baptist minister Lee trusted to speak at her memorial service, serves his friend well. VERDICT With this work, Flynt offers an overview of Lee's life with admiration, humor, and palpable love. [See Prepub Alert, 11/27/16.]—Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence

Library Journal

Harper Lee stands as one of the twentieth century’s most beloved authors with her enduring classic, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Here, her longtime friend Wayne Flint shares his perspective on Lee through their thirty-year correspondence. What makes this listening experience special are the performances of the two narrators, Rosemary Benson and Mike Ortego. Ortego tells Flint’s story and reads his letters to Lee. In a deep, resonant tone, he captures Flint’s humor and his admiration for Lee. Benson, in particular, seems perfectly chosen to represent Lee; her melodic voice has a hint of Southern charm. By listening to this audiobook, you come to feel you know the author a little bit better. A.G.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

JULY 2017 - AudioFile

2017-02-06
An insider's portrait of the beloved author.Flynt (Emeritus, History/Auburn Univ.; Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, 2011, etc.) received his first letter from Nelle Harper Lee (1926-2016) in 1992. Over the years, they became dear friends, and this book collects their correspondence. Flynt provides revealing portraits of the very private Nelle and her sisters, Alice and Louise, and her close relationship with the Flynt family. Like the bird that inhabits the title of her famous novel, Lee was "complicated and independent" and highly protective of her family. However, as Flynt found out, once she could trust him, she was neither cold nor uncommunicative but rather "empathetic, warm, nonjudgmental, and a wonderful conversationalist." Her letters are often chatty, funny, and satirical. The correspondence explores racial issues, personal matters, and the state of Lee's health, but there's also a good deal of material literary buffs and fans of Lee will enjoy. Her "literary idol" was Jane Austen. She loved Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and read C.S. Lewis "voraciously." Eudora Welty, she writes, was "my goddess, and with Faulkner, I think are the TWO." Although Lee was ill, she did approve the publication of Go Set a Watchman and was especially pleased with its sales and the money she was making. Even though she was Truman Capote's "oldest friend," she knew he told others he had a hand in writing To Kill a Mockingbird, which grew out of a short story she had written. With a touch of glee, she writes, "I did something Truman could not forgive: I wrote a novel that sold." He "nursed his envy for more than 20 years." Lee calls biographer Charles Shields, whom she refused to cooperate with, a "creep," and she was livid when she found out he had included her New York City address in it: "bush-league." A thin but welcome snapshot of the ‘real' Lee.

Kirkus Reviews