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Dear Atticus, Dear Scout, Dear Boo....

If yesterday's anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird and all the ensuing hoopla has you wondering how you can participate, author Ben Greenman offers up this amazing opportunity - why not write a letter to your favorite character in the novel, and send it to his Letters with Character campaign?

Ben Greenman’s Letters With Character celebrates the art of letter writing as a form of fiction and in honor of the timeless classic, Harper Perennial and Ben Greenman are asking for your letters to your favorite character from To Kill A Mockingbird. Email your submission to LettersWithCharacter AT gmail DOT com and check the site to see which ones get posted!

The 50th Anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird is being celebrated all summer long. Look for local and national happenings on the Facebook Page and official website.

Happy Birthday To Kill a Mockingbird!

Today Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird turns 50 years old - and it remains as relevant today as when it was first published. There are celebrations throughout the country to celebrate the anniversary - many today, but many happening in the months ahead. You can check out the official Facebook page to stay on top of events near you. I read TKAM (as we affectionately call it at work) for the first time after graduating from college - somewhat late for an English major, I know. And I can't remember which came first for me, the book or the movie. Both are so wonderful, each in their own way. I had the absolute honor of meeting Harper Lee several years ago when we first published the trade paperback edition of the book. I felt like I was meeting royalty and I was - literary royalty. I'm about to reread the book with my book group and I may just pop the DVD in today too. I know I'll be watching on July 30th along with Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books, who is organizing a cyber watchalong that night.

Published this year to celebrate the novel is Mary McDonagh Murphy's Scout, Atticus and Boo, a veritable love letter to the novel that includes thoughts on the Mockingbird from numerous luminaries, including Oprah Winfrey, Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw and Wally Lamb, among many others. 

Check out To Kill a Mockingbird and Scout, Atticus and Boo; watch an excerpt from the Scout, Atticus and Boo documentary below; look for a celebratory event near you and lastly, take a look at my favorite scene from the film. (sorry for the low volume, but there are subtitles). Makes me cry every time.