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SLR: Mr. Shields, when I learned of your biography, I
wondered--how? May I
assume that you didn’t start this project thinking you’d receive any
help from Ms. Lee? And if so, did this undertaking turn out to be
harder or easier than you expected?
CS: From the beginning
in 2002, I didn’t expect Miss Lee to help me. I hoped to minimize
her concerns about this book by proceeding cautiously and letting it
be known among her friends that I wasn’t out to injure her
reputation. I never insisted that anyone talk to me. Not having her
help, however, meant that I had to find many people on my own who
knew her, and that involved a great deal of sleuthing.
SLR:
As a beautiful wordsmith and an experienced
biographer, what was the hardest part about writing this biography?
CS:
The biggest challenge was trying to convince the reader, which I
hope I have, that someone may have only one book in her. I explained
as best I could why that is so, keeping in mind that many admirers
of To Kill a Mockingbird have been waiting years for a second
novel.
SLR:
You spend a lot of time on her trip to Kansas
with Truman Capote compared to the other 80 some years of life
material. Is this because you saw it as the second most significant
time in her life (the first being the success of Mb) or because her
life lends itself to so few personal events?
CS: I wanted to give Miss
Lee credit, long overdue in my opinion, for her part in creating one
of the most important nonfiction books of the 20th
century. Garden City, Kansas was a traumatized town after the
Clutter murders in 1959. Not only did Harper Lee help Truman Capote
penetrate a wall of suspicion and fear, but she also wrote character
sketches and contributed insights about the people she and Truman
encountered, which Capote later used in abundance. Nevertheless,
when In Cold Blood was published, Lee only received equal
billing with Jack Dunphy, Truman’s lover, in the dedication. Dunphy
had next to nothing to do within In Cold Blood. That gesture
was extremely ungenerous of Capote.
SLR:
After all your research do you feel Ms. Lee
should have received more credit for In Cold Blood? It struck me
that her reaction to the dedication seemed somewhat uncharacteristic
of her, though believable? What are your thoughts on her reaction?
CS: From childhood, Lee
was loyal to Truman, who could be quite a handful at times. He
demanded attention and threw fits when he didn’t get it. I think
it’s understandable that she would be hurt and angry that he would
treat her compassion towards him so lightly and risk losing her as a
friend.
SLR:
What about Harper Lee did you learn in your
research that most surprised you, if anything?
CS: Miss Lee has been
remarkably consistent her entire life: she’s a nonconformist. I was
surprised that the roughhousing girl of the 1930s was also the
author of such a gentle book, and that she remained a pretty tough
cookie into middle age and beyond. Friends know her as warm, but she
also doesn’t care a fig about what anybody thinks of her.
SLR:
If you could ask Ms. Lee any two questions,
what would they be?
CS: I’d like to know
whether she’s working on her memoirs— I’ve heard rumors that she is;
and second, whether she will ever allow the hundreds and hundreds of
letters she’s written to friends to be made public.
SLR: Thank you, Mr. Shields, for
writing this biography. and for sharing your insight with us.
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