I stumbled across this gem last Christmas while surfing the net. The reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird wrote a brief, but powerfully touching essay entitled “Christmas to Me” published in McCalls Magazine in 1961.
I had intended to post a link here so that my readers could also enjoy it but, to my dismay, it is no where to be found (for free, anyway).
I am able to link you to An Overview of Harper Lee’s Life, which provides valuable background to fully enjoying the essay. But, without the essay, I’m afraid the background will only be enjoyed by those who simply would like to know more about Harper Lee.
If you’re interested, there are a few copies of this McCalls issue for sale on eBay, or the essay itself can be purchased at a couple of other sites. Lucky for me, I copied and pasted it into a Word document last year; but due to concerns that I would violate copyright laws if I posted the text here, I’m afraid I will have to enjoy Lee’s essay in solitary isolation.
I don’t want to ruin the story, so suffice it to say that Harper Lee recalls the remarkable story of a very special Christmas marked by the generous deed of friends who were motivated by the spirit of Christmas. Lee’s description of Christmas memories highlights the uniqueness of Christmas, and the love and good will it creates each year.
[Edit November 20, 2008: I actually found a site where you can read this Harper Lee article online and there appears to be no copyright restriction. Therefore, I am happy to announce that I have added a file sharing widget at the bottom of the sidebar to your left. Now all my readers will be able to enjoy this beautifully written story by one of America’s greatest writers. You’ll see that without Christmas, there would be no To Kill a Mockingbird. I’ve formatted it to print in booklet form, but you can simply change it to normal in File>Page Setup. Merry Christmas!]
I support your decision not to post it. It’s too bad it’s not available for free!
Thank you renaissanceguy. I agree that it’s a shame it’s not available for free online. I would just love to share it too, because it really is a terrific essay.
Any idea of a web address that sales these memoirs?
I’m sorry Mel. I searched quite a while last year and found 1 or 2 sites that sold copies of this article, but I searched just now and couldn’t find anything. I sure wish I could direct my readers to a site where they could enjoy this tender story. I’ll keep working on it and see what I can do.
Hi Troper
Thanks for that link to the Christmas article by Harper Lee. I am also looking for Harper Lee’s article “Love — in other words” but i cant seem to find it. Do you have any suggestions?
Well, I don’t know if this site is new, or what…but in searching just now I found this. With all the time I spent searching over the last two years, I don’t know why I didn’t come across this before. I hope you all enjoy it!
hi can somebody tell me any sites where i could get the detail description of the articles by Harper Lee….
I already have the articles but i need to understand it better.
Please help me….
Hi Jennifer! Thank you for Visiting Where’s Christmas?
and posting a coment. I’m not sure what you’re asking, though. You have some of Harper Lee’s stories, but you want to understand them better…is that what you’re asking? If so, what specificially did you not understand and want some help with? Are you doing a report for school and need an analysis of one/some of her stories?
By the way, in addition to the Shelfari site linked in comment #6, the full text of “Christmas to Me” can be downloaded from the green File Box at the lower left near the bottom of the page…