Harper Lee and One Book

Portrait from the first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) (photo by Truman Capote)

"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.“Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Born this day in 1926, Harper Lee. She had one book published in the first portion of her lifetime, just one, but oh, what a book! It was one of the major formative reads of my life.

She introduced me to Atticus Finch in the 7th grade and, for a time, I wondered if I would serve God and humanity best as a preacher or criminal lawyer or both.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" was one of the three most influential books of my youth.

Gregory Peck once said that people would approach him and say, "I became a lawyer because of your portrayal of Atticus.

If I could leave only one thing behind, I would hope that it could be as impactful as what Miss Lee left.