Is this microphone hunt . It is. I am with the alabama book smith on behalf of our dedicated staff and also book sellers in the entire crew in the geniuses that Penguin Press who publish the book the literary world has anticipated for half a century. It is my privilege and pleasure to show you a mockingbird interview. Also high all to the viewers on cspan. Listening to the big screen to talk about the stories each attendee has received a signed First Edition of the mockingbird next door with their ticket. If you would like extra copies for friends and forgives they are available at alabama books. Com. To soak up the ambiance of the early 20th century book that has been lovingly restored to its original charm. The final perk for one lucky patron to walk away tonight with the 50th Anniversary Edition to kill a mockingbird bookplate signed by harper lee. We have a distinguished visitor that replies to the increase for what you have written down and then the drawing for the prize. This will soon be the hottest book in america we just found out two hours ago you were the first to note that it will debut of the New York Times best seller list at number four and it has only been out a few days. [applause] and has been praised and damned by the New York Times and Washington Post did radio talk show. Best tweets and facebook comments. Many of you have an opinion before you have read the book. We asked to reserve judgment until you heard the presentation to the a answers to the questions posed. We dont need much of an introduction is the media has done that for us but to dont a Pulitzer Prize in a marvelous sense of humor in a respectful and gentle manner that is apparent as soon as you may weeder. Looking at the College Football games there is one controversy she does not avoid when it comes to the broken pepsi wars. Her grandfather ran a twoman cocacola bottling plant in her hometown of Black River Falls wisconsin. Although she had a strong preference for diet coke. Please welcome back to sweet home alabama marja mills. [applause] thank you so much i am thrilled to be here to see this gorgeous theater it was the privilege to get to know harper lee and her older sister and a privilege to share them with few. Some of my favorite times around the Kitchen Table. I hope you just pull up a kitchen chair to celebrate the stories and listen about harper lee and her remarkable sister and her friends and family in that town to understand the context of their lives. Please pull up the chair around the Kitchen Table. That was short and sweet senator i have then edited for some time as always try a to see if i can use fewer words which is not normally the first option. Just what went through your mind when you were at the motel in alabama with a telephone in your room and the voice on the other and said hello . This is harper lee. Guest i wonder if we might meet . Eyes tried to keep my voice from rising. It was as if the wizard of oz just called my motel room. I was surprised and thrilled that the chance. And i had a sense of what a downtoearth person she was. She asked if it would be all right to come by the next day and i said yes. And she showed up at the appointed time and begin the first of many conversations over the years. One of the first times when i was telling her about my reason witches as to kill mockingbird in chicago from all walks of life i was telling her more about the activities as a feature writer for the Chicago Tribune. And then to see the place that is known to readers around the world so i was telling her the movie as part of this so with this little table actually to say gregory peck is said he delicious . [laughter] i thought this will be a different type of conversation. And it was such a delight to. Also the first indication of the touching things that came out of the of movie that means the world to solve many of us was the friendship with gregory peck that lasted through his staff and when he died and with his widow. And there was Something Wonderful all those years later if she would referred to the last gentleman to appreciate the talent and the sensibility that would bring us all together through the movies. Host as a footnote. [laughter] throughout the book you reference harper lee sense of humor. And one of my favorite little perks is when she received a phone call from court and in the words were god, here. [laughter] explained that. You even have his gentle deep voice down. She said that horton foote after all these years we were having breakfast to tell me she had answered the phone is always described as modest in the newspaper stories so i said modest so the phone rang and she heard god here. The end of a conversation and he said remember god loves you. [laughter] and said it with the twinkle in the eye. To have such a wonderful advocate for so many jews trulyc appreciate what you have done. Before the main event started we got to see Catherine Tucker windham you mentioned her in your buck about listening to her audiotapes. Just to give you the context i had known the sisters about three years at that point they were helpful in what became along newspaper story that i prepare for the tribunexo that encouraged me to come back which i did then spending sometimes living there. People in birmingham people will appreciate i had the idea may be a could find an apartment over somebodys garage i did not need or want very much but in a small town the apartment is harder to come by the and a house. A good friend suggested i look at the house two doors down by then i had spent a lot of time with both of them. I wonder if that isnt close for comfort. As somebody who lived in Downtown Chicago the event that they would perform that would charge they hope to sell in a difficult market there were willing to rent paying 650 a month for quite a house that is pretty good for our Downtown Chicago but when i told the sisters about this harpers response was highway robbery. I think she was offended by the idea i would pay more than she thought i should. But the house next door to them was taken to and also for sale and had been for some time that had some storm damage it had been on the market quite a while. And they offered to serve as references to looking into that so why did to work it out with the young man who was transferred to another city i would rent it monthtomonth well on the market to live and also have some income while waiting for it to sell. So i had to fight the urge to take the for sale sign out of the art in hiding in his garage i thought it would be available if indeed it was planted the printing that house for 18 months fall 2004 through spring 2006. One of my favorite things to hear when i pick up the phone in my little house was high dash honey do have the pot of coffee so could i talk around the Kitchen Table . We did that quite often as we were regulars at mcdonalds over coffee. I had to wait for harper in the parking lot we had driven separate cars that day in the tennessee game was on. [laughter] waiting intel she had the final score intel we could go wind. In it and as harper referred to as atticus in a skirt. Clearly the inspiration for the Atticus Finch character practicing in a quiet way 15 years older than harper knew her as i get when she was scott stage there were times she was as much mother as sister with that age difference and would let me know how her baby sister was doing in new york she lived in interesting parallel existence between the apartment in manhattan in to spend time in manhattan that she has such of ties to both places. Sissy spacek wrote in her memoirs that regarding the ideal of to kill a mockingbird was one of the best things she had done in her professional career to talk about the friendship gregory peck said in his biography that Atticus Finch was the role of a lifetime. And by those two giants of the entertainment world would think those things. That always the first one to come to mind how generous they were to share their time. To knows the people around her it is the privilege to try to honor a work that means so much to so many people since it was First Published in 1960 i remember the first time i saw alan s. Who was maybe 5foot tall on a good day going to the post office box on the downtown square i know you have been there. He would have a plastic bags from the Grocery Store and all those years later maybe 40 years would stream into the post office box is and what that book meant to them they feel a personal attachment to they appreciated as the plastic novel but maybe there is a guide to living for some people i suspect there might be more than one grandchild for these people letter named harper or scout or atticus. But that is the safe bet than a reflection to honor that work. There are so many scenes in your buck to put a normal ordinary image for this mysterious woman could you elaborate on the ambiance. We drink oceans of coffee shopping a walmart. Is feeding quarters into the washing machine. One thing that i appreciated the most was house simply they lived up. But what harper evers said on the drive that was one of the great pleasures that to better do not exist but we passed a beautiful southern grand home and harper was driving and alice was in the passenger seat i was in the back seat but as she said referring to her in dallas we can appreciate beauty without needing to possess it. What a lovely look at the way in my experience with material things mont updating a house were the wardrobe or on television it did not take much time it was refreshing. Host that was a wonderful perception that you made her seem as normal in many aspects. Guest i have to say that one of the great pleasures there was the story every property we drove by with a few that had started three generations earlier in all the stories of the landscape also of to get a sense of what it was like in listening to those stories they had the intent to alice if senator bayh quite a character is to not take long before i heard about them so then they grew up as they were hearing stories not just information but that pleasure to tell the story in depreciating that character is a lot of times to have a sense of humor as a great source of consternation but with a sense of humor. That is the word is human for those items. There was a time when there was a confluence in the of life of harper the the movie was just coming out called infamous in to play harper lee at the same time that charles shields biography with the influence how that affected the feelings of harper lee and she got a copy of the tape. It was a bootleg copy. Playing it at their residence they have a little trouble at that time hearing so you are saying the words i did not say. But that neighborhood that belong to a friend of theirs that became a friend of mine from their congregation when they took those outings. And in this crowd if you are as technologically unsophisticated as i am the up impressive you can press pass for word and rewind. [laughter] i would call them my gray hair posse. [ says someone whod knew how to work it was the vcr that came in handy. One evening as anybody word to worry about this experience through the imagination she wanted to see it so we went to a friends house with a vcr she had hearing difficulties already at that time as did alice the first button i was pushing was the volume. I pushed play and we were going to watch the beginning of this movie that was about to be seen by people across the country. I said tell me when it is loud enough. It went up and up it you can relate to how difficult that is she got as close as she could but it was ly7. Wy2n1 onzw dialogue so i would cause after a light or too thin to tell her i wasnt sure in thin you said or and then she said. [laughter] so i settled on and then you said so every line of dialogue also to have a commentary i couldnt help thinking she was going home after a special one evening if that was all for me it was a magic like what it was like for her. Imus having a voice in the of room other than the television there wasnt much that broke me of that habit which was a side benefit i would say of my time there. And i could not get npr that i would admit as a chicago girl i was used to it that the recession would fade and i hear people who have made that drive. I wanted a friendly voice in the room to keep the company. And harper came up with a perfect three word remedy. Coming in through my kitchen door and said these are for you favor the first few as many as i could find to talk about growing up as she did if there was some real parallels to how harper group king you imagine a better voice to have in the room with you especially if you play a tape three times are four or five times i remember her saying she would pause in her stories as france would ask her why the explanation would be her father was a pious so perhaps that was the habit but was also somebody admired for the way she captured to do more are less reasonable good job with that recommendation. I cannot introduce everybody with so many celebrities in the audience but you will see. [applause] and with her original book is approaching the 50th anniversary is the perfect but i know where you can get a copy. [laughter] you would not tell. They had such admiration in the role that he played in this small town. That certainly was true stibnite to give me another great introduction those who have read hildebrandt to the greatest books of all time i think many as you know, most of the time she never left her room. She had Chronic Fatigue syndrome and wrote a letter of the most of the books in her bet. That helps in that time you spend there and then you spent the majority of the tiebreaking this book. How in the world was that . Table and i did write most of the book in bet with lupus so i would work it would never chunks i could but of lot of times in my apartment i was in bet. It was the power of books to transport to another time when i first read to kill a mockingbird i was hidden night created madison wisconsin. Sitting in that overheated library in there was the element of that. And what it was appealing about journalism was to be out and about. It was frustrating when i would spend large chunks of time index i was reliving the experiences i had so quite often through the helper a remarkable woman in her own right was the helper but i was living next door i felt like i was resurfacing at the end of the day after i was spending time and that was true of kelly to also spent a lot of time with me an africanamerican woman who grew up at the time she did and was sanders and a midwife for midyears. Can that spell that she knew how to cast that we were masters of the art to resurface and remember. It was a way to be out in the world when we were not. With some faith and hope with a solid tear a process to share those stories with other people how remarkable it is to be here with you tonight. Here is a gift that they both shared with me and i want to share that with all of you. With a friend or relative. Added there were so many that were divided to tell if we are delighted to share. The names so glad to share with all of you now. [applause] a wonderful moment that fascinated me was the road trip he took to new jersey would you tell us about that road trip . With pleasure. While i was living there i had a car they recall it the allegedly set my retired minister. He had gone with me to buy an old car that he called old blue. And i would be driving old blue to princeton. Not terribly far from where you are. So she came along as my passenger. She is to go to evergreen alabama. So she decided she would join me on the trip. I decided i needed to be prepared for any contingency. I got water bottles. Orange traffic cones. [laughter] i joined aaa and i wondered it would say please drive carefully a National Treasure on board i did not want to answer if anything happened on that drive to a then heading up but in their driveway to minutes on the road i take her comment was way to get off to a good start. We ended up having a snooze trap in touche talk about the country going by our windows as we drove faking that the country had not seen much of the country budget to dine had seen a lot of her and she did take the train for a Library Fundraiser that i believe gregory pecks widow was involved with the support of libraries that is one of the reasons i got to know them and that was reason enough to take a train in bin to eventually make the way to alabama. When she wanted to talk off the record she would mention the towns biggest gossip other areas that are extremely sensitive, what was your reaction as a reporter when it was said this is off the record . That is what i would respect. In there are people here who would have that privilege to spend time with her to know that she would use her index finger when making a point she would sometimes say that is off the record. Dont include that in the book were put that in there. With the story she hoped i would share. But i would make note and i was more candid than i might have predicted to have a sense of virgin of fame as those who were involved with her affairs all those years and didnt feel it needed to extend to friends and relatives who had signed up for that any more than necessary. These were stories of appreciation of human foible of the excess is of the characters in a small town but they did not want to be the source of hurt feelings. Host i wanted you to share that with the audience this is a smart bunch of folks. These are a lot better than mine. For the daughters i would take personal privileges as a witness she is the close friend and a former neighbor much longer the it you were with several conversations and i got her permission to mention this youre just the smartest person with the greatest sense of humor into the said i could tell. Hello. And passage stage news since that night many years ago. I was thinking that went ding spending time is they are so witty there already good stories to share yourself. There was a lot of laughter at the stables. And i believe her phrase is i have the yankees play she was also concerned as most of the friends were in their 80s and 90s or seven days that sounds younker to be not as many young people to spend time with so that was a chance to do that as well. That was great. Host thank you for coming. Guest the last request for you that is a daydream for the audience you mentioned in the book up possibilities to have on our bookshelf if she had written a few m