SUNDAY,MAY 30, 2010
The Impulsive Traveler
Scouting out Harper Lee’s home town
by Laura Stassi Jeffrey
A thunderstorm has been chasing us down I-65 from Montgomery, threat- ening to reach Monroeville before we do. But we reach the historic town square first, and as soon as my brother-in-law has pulled into a parking space, I scram- ble out of the back seat and sprint to the steps of the Old Monroe County Court- house. This is probably the best place to get to know Monroeville, Ala., the town where my mother grew up with “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee. Lee set her best-selling, Pulitzer Prize- winning novel in a fictional Southern town called Maycomb, and she has said that the story could have taken place anywhere. But “Mockingbird” mirrors Lee’s Depression-era childhood in Mon- roeville. The protagonist of the 1960 nov- el is Scout Finch, a 9-year-old tomboy whose lawyer father is defending a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s best friend is Dill, the boy who lives next door with his rela- tives, and Scout and Dill have all kinds of adventures with Scout’s brother, Jem. In real life, Lee was a tomboy, her fa- ther was a lawyer, and she had an older brother (as well as three older sisters). She lived in a house on South Alabama Avenue, near the courthouse, and her best friend was Truman Persons, who lived next door with his Faulk kin. Tru- man moved in when he was 6, after his parents divorced, but he left town four years later, after his mother remarried. His stepfather adopted him, and he be- came Truman Capote. I open the creaky wooden door of the white-domed, red-brick courthouse and step inside. Built in 1903, it was used for official county business until 1963, when a replacement was built next door. The old courthouse is now home to the Mon- roe County Heritage Museums, a consor- tium that includes the Old Monroe County Courthouse Museum. My Granddaddy Watson, the longtime
sheriff of Monroe County, had an office on the first floor of this building. Now, the first floor houses an exhibit about the building and the Monroeville com- munity, a tourist information center, memorabilia from a 1930s law office and a gift shop with books, and arts and crafts created by Southerners. On the second floor is an exhibit that
pays tribute to Lee. Everyone in Monroe- ville knows the author by her first name, Nelle, which she dropped from her by- line. The photos and memorabilia in this exhibit are interesting, but more note-
More Travel this week
FRIDAY
Escapes drops a few coins in
unusual places in Bethlehem, Pa., in
Weekend.
NEXT SUNDAY
The Impulsive Traveler moseys
along the colorful, historic streets of Bastrop, Tex., in Travel.
EXTERIOR BY TAMI CHAPPELL/REUTERS; COURTROOM BY JOE STASSI; 1963 PHOTO OF HARPER LEE BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Old Monroe County Courthouse contains the courtroom that was re-created for the movie adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper Lee, who wrote the novel, grew up in Monroeville and still lives there.
worthy to me are Lee’s own comments about “Mockingbird.” For decades, the reclusive author has steadfastly refused to answer questions about her sole nov- el, to cooperate with biographers or to grant interviews. Apparently, though, she wasn’t always so reclusive. For exam- ple, she told a UPI reporter in the early ’60s that she did not consider “Mocking- bird” to be a liberal or a conservative tale; she just hoped it was thought of as a “good book.”
Also on the second floor is the ellipti- cal courtroom itself, where Lee’s father practiced law. (So did my Uncle Buddy, decades after A.C. Lee.) If you’ve seen the 1962 film version of “To Kill a Mocking- bird,” you’ll get a sense of deja vu as you look up to the courtroom’s balcony, the only place where black spectators were allowed. The courtroom was meticu- lously re-created for the movie scenes in which Gregory Peck, as lawyer Atticus Finch, defends an innocent Tom Rob-
inson. And one of the film’s three Acad- emy Awards was for art direction and set decoration.
Another upstairs exhibit includes let- ters, postcards and photos detailing Tru- man Capote’s Monroeville connection. But you can probably get a better under- standing of Lee’s work with Capote on his 1966 book “In Cold Blood” by reading Charles J. Shields’s biography of Lee. Ca- pote credited Lee as his research assis- tant, but Shields presents a compelling case that it was more of a writing part- nership and that Capote wasn’t more generous in acknowledging Lee’s contri- butions because he was jealous of her Pulitzer.
Our tour of the courthouse museum
complete, we walk over to the Old City Cafe, on Claiborne Street. After lunch, with the weather temporarily cooperat- ing, we use a map we picked up at the courthouse to take a walking tour of this town of about 7,000.
This proves to be an exercise for our imaginations as well as our bodies be- cause, sadly, much of my mother’s and Lee’s Monroeville no longer exists. The house where Lee lived as a child — and where my mother once listened to rec- ords and danced with a group of older kids that included Lee and Capote — is gone. In fact, A.C. Lee had already sold the house before “Mockingbird” was published. Occupying the land now is a small eatery called Mel’s Dairy Dream. The stone wall that separated the Lee and Faulk homes remains, but the Faulk house is also gone, lost to a fire years ago. Gone, too, is the house of teacher Gladys Watson, Lee’s role model and a cousin of my granddaddy’s; even the Wee Diner, where Peck ate with Lee when the actor came to town in 1961 to research his Oscar-winning role. Among the buildings still standing, but empty, are those that housed the Monroe Coun- ty Bank, where Lee’s father kept an of- fice, and the Monroe Journal, the news- paper that Lee’s father once owned. Lee has reportedly given generously to the First United Methodist Church here, but I wonder why she has not gotten in- volved in efforts to preserve the town it- self. For many years, she divided her time between New York and Monroe- ville, but the 84-year-old author now lives here permanently. Lee has shunned publicity for dec- ades, although she did travel to Wash- ington in 2007 to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I hope she won’t be a no-show at the 50th anniversary celebra- tion of her book’s publication. Several events are planned for July 8-11, includ- ing panel discussions featuring South- ern scholars and writers; outdoor read- ings; docent-led walking tours; show- ings of the “Mockingbird” movie and of a documentary funded by the Alabama Humanities Foundation; and dinner at the C.L. HybartHouse Museum and Cul- tural Center, a restored 1920s house that now hosts weddings and special events. Lee and Capote visited the residents of the house before leaving on one of their trips to Kansas for “In Cold Blood” in late 1959 or early 1960. I’ve been debating whether I should
make an effort to meet Lee while I’m in Monroeville. I could ask for an introduc- tion from my Aunt Carolyn, who occa- sionally chauffeurs Lee around town on errands. But Aunt Carolyn is busy with last-minute details for a big church pot- luck, and I don’t want to bother her. I could just stop by the assisted living fa- cility where Lee now lives, and identify myself as Betty Watson’s daughter. But that seems intrusive. So several of us make plans to have dinner at David’s Catfish House, where Lee and her 99- year-old sister frequently eat. Then Curtis, Aunt Mary Jane’s new boyfriend who’s visiting from California, points out that the catfish house doesn’t serve alcohol, and this is a family re- union, after all. So we make other dinner reservations, and I decide to leave Nelle Harper Lee alone, as she undoubtedly prefers.
travel@washpost.com
Jeffrey is a freelance writer and the author of several books for young readers.
ARK. Memphis
65
Birmingham
MISS. LA.
Monroeville
Mobile
New
Orleans
0
MILES 150
ALABAMA
65
TENN.
85
GEORGIA Atlanta
Montgomery
10
FLA.
Gulf of Mexico
Tampa
LARIS KARKLIS/THE WASHINGTON POST
IF YOU GO
Want to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Monroeville, Ala.? Here’s what you need to know for the weekend of June 4-6:
GETTING THERE
Monroeville is about 106 miles southwest of Montgomery. US Airways and Delta offer one-stop flights from BWI for about $320.
WHERE TO STAY
Best Western Inn
4419 S. Alabama Ave. 251-575-9999
www.bestwesternalabama.com
A few miles from the town square. Rooms from about $77 a night, including breakfast.
Days Inn
4389 S. Alabama Ave. 251-743-3297
www.daysinn.com
Rooms from about $66 a night, including continental breakfast.
WHERE TO EAT
Court House Cafe Catering and Confections
27 W. Claiborne St. 251-743-3663 Simple but hearty fare, including soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers. The most expensive item on the lunch menu is $8.
David’s Catfish House
145 Hwy. 84 East 251-575-3460
www.davidscatfishhouse.com
Try the all-you-can-eat catfish filet plate ($9.95) with the restaurant’s signature cheese grits.
WHAT TO DO
Old Monroe County Courthouse Museum
31 N. Alabama Ave. 251-575-7433
www.tokillamockingbird.com
Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free. Hours will be extended and reservations are required for some events during July’s 50th anniversary celebration of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Beehive Coffee and Books
11 W. Claiborne St. 251-575-4193 “First Friday” events showcase local authors, artists and musicians.
INFORMATION
Monroe County Chamber of Commerce
www.monroecountyal.com
— L.S.J.
All flight and lodging information valid as of press time Thursday.
95
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