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Biographer to visit Jackson to kick off Big Read events
Jackson Community College and the Jackson Literacy Coalition are pleased to present the Big Read, a communitywide effort in March to encourage people to get reading, focusing on “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.
Kicking off the month will be two opportunities to meet Charles Shields, author of the biography “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee,” from 5-8 p.m. Friday, March 2 at the Carnegie Branch of the Jackson District Library, and again at the Nomad Bookhouse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 3. The JDL event will be a wine reception and opportunity to meet Mr. Shields, with wines donated by Sandhill Crane Winery. At the Nomad Bookhouse, Shields will be signing copies of his biography.
Shields is a former English teacher who taught Harper Lee’s novel for years, and later became a writer of nonfiction for young people. He spent four years researching and writing the biography, interviewing 600 of Harper Lee’s neighbors, childhood friends, law school classmates, and Kansas residents who became her friends while she was there helping Truman Capote research “In Cold Blood.” Harper Lee, the Pulitzer prize-winning author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” stopped giving interviews in 1964. Shields has a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in American history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he was a James Scholar. He lives in Virginia with his wife, Guadalupe.
For a complete calendar of events for the Big Read, please visit www.jacksonreads.com, the JCC web site at www.jccmi.edu, or call 517.768.7023.
