I just had a father-daughter moment with my oldest. I got to share a bit of history in hopes that she will appreciate a piece of beloved art as much as I do. Time will tell I guess.

We walked through Indigo books – a favorite pass time of ours (mine) – me with a hot cup of coffee in hand, and her with a lemon loaf. And we strolled. I had an agenda. I walked her to a poster of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, which comes out on Tuesday (July 14) about which I am rather excited, and I told her the story behind the book.
———
[Interlude]: “The novel follows an adult Scout Finch who travels from New York to Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Atticus Finch, 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. According to the publisher, Scout “is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father’s attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.”

The title comes from Isaiah 21:6: “For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.” It alludes to Scout’s view of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral compass (“watchman”) of Maycomb” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Set_a_Watchman)
———-

This lady Harper Lee, who wrote this book, she’s now almost 90 years old and the book comes out on Tuesday. I can’t wait.
Wow. That’s really old.
Yes, it is. She wrote a book in 1960 called To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s one of my favorite books.
1960?! That’s a long time ago!! What’s it about?
Well, a little girl like you, about your age, and a bunch of stuff in her small town that goes down.
Cool.
Yes. Very cool. Anyway, it’s one of the best books ever, and one of the best films ever made. The movie is so old it’s black and white.
What!? Why?
Televisions didn’t have color back then.
Weird.

Anyway, it became this famous book, like I had to read it in school famous. But I am glad I did because it changed the way I thought about stories, and writing, and even how to think about people.
Wow.
But, and here’s the crazy part, she never wrote another book after that one!
What? Why?
No one knows. Most writers try to write lots of books. But she went silent for 55 years, and then, all of a sudden, this book is going to be released next week. Same characters and everything.
Wow. Crazy. Why did it take so long?
Who knows? Maybe she thought she couldn’t live up to the first book, or felt like her place in the world was to write just that story and then be done. I don’t know.
How did she write it when she is so old?
That’s another crazy thing about all this: she wrote it 60 years ago – before To Kill a Mockingbird, but it sat in a drawer and then in a safety deposit box for 50 years! And then a man found it a couple of years ago (2011).
50 years! That’s older than you!
Yup.
Wow. I hope it’s good dad. Can we go now?
Yes…

and me too.