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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 5 noveMber 2018
'Mockingbird' chosen as America's best-loved novel in vote

By LYNN ELBER mains a fixture on school ered and released in 2015.
Associated Press reading lists. The 1962 Lee died the next year at
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "To Kill screen adaptation won age 89.
a Mockingbird," a coming- three Oscars, including a Besides the TV series,
of-age story about racism best-actor trophy for Greg- "The Great American
and injustice, overpowered ory Peck's portrayal of he- Read" initiative included
wizards and time travel- roic Atticus Finch. a 50,000-member online
ers to be voted America's Set in the 1930s South, the book club and video con-
best-loved novel by read- book centers on attorney tent across PBS platforms,
ers nationwide. Finch and his young chil- Facebook and YouTube
The 1960 book by Harper dren, daughter Scout and that drew more than 5 mil-
Lee emerged as No. 1 in son Jem. When Finch de- lion views.
PBS' "The Great American fends an African-American The 100-book list voted on
Read" survey, whose results man falsely accused of as- by readers was based on
were announced Tuesday saulting a white woman, an initial survey of about
on the show's finale. More the trial and its repercus- 7,000 Americans, with an
than 4 million votes were sions open Scout's eyes to advisory panel of experts
cast in the six-month-long the world around her, good organizing the list. Books
contest that put 100 titles This combination photo shows author Harper Lee during a cer- and bad. had to have been pub-
to the test. Books that were emony honoring the four new members of the Alabama Acad- Lee's second published lished in English but not writ-
published as a series count- emy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. on Aug. 20, novel, "Go Set a Watch- ten in the language, and
2007, left, and the cover of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To
ed as a single entry. Kill a Mockingbird." man," was written in the one book or series per au-
The other top-five finishers in Associated Press 1950s before "Mockingbird" thor was allowed.
order of votes were Diana but is essentially a sequel. Bookworms could vote
Gabaldon's "Outlander" se- chises (the Potter and Tolk- sold more than 40 million After being put aside by once daily for their favorite
ries about a time-spanning ien works) or for TV ("Out- copies worldwide and re- the author, it was rediscov- work.q
love; J.K. Rowling's "Harry lander"). Even "Pride and
Potter" boy wizard tales; Prejudice," the 200-year-
Jane Austen's romance old inspiration for numerous
"Pride and Prejudice"; and TV and movie versions and
J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of with an army of "Janeites"
the Rings" fantasy saga. devoted to Austen and her
Turns out the contest was a work, couldn't best Lee's
"Mockingbird" runaway. novel.
"The novel started out at Debbie Ford of Orion, Il-
No. 1 on the first day of linois, an "Outlander" fan
the vote, and it never wa- whose love of the books
vered," series host Meredith was showcased on an epi-
Vieira said. sode of "The Great Ameri-
Joining her to sing the can Read," expressed dis-
book's praises was writer appointment they didn't
Aaron Sorkin, whose ad- win. But she delighted in
aptation of "Mockingbird" the attention they — and
starts Broadway previews the joy of reading — re-
next month, and cast ceived.
members. Sorkin ("The West "I believe this PBS series has
Wing," ''The Social Net- reminded some of us again
work") said reading Lee's that reading is important,
novel was his first brush with and it has exposed us to
"astonishing writing." books that we may not or-
"There is soul-crushing in- dinarily pick up. And that's
justice in this book that still such a good thing!" Ford
exists," he said. "And at the said in an email Tuesday,
center, morality, decency adding a friendly plug: "So
and what it is to be a per- please go read a book that
son strikes us." you have not read before
LaTanya Richardson Jack- — especially if you haven't
son, who portrays Calpur- yet discovered 'Outland-
nia in the play, marveled at er'!"
Lee's achievement. "To Kill a Mockingbird" has
"I was most impressed that
a woman wrote that way"
during that era, the actress
said, and that Lee was so
"deeply involved on the
right side of right."
Lee's slender, Pulitzer Prize-
winning novel proved en-
during enough to over-
come the popularity of
hefty epics adapted as
blockbuster movie fran-