Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and to Kill a Mockingbird

Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, to Kill a Mockingbird remains a beloved bestseller and quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th Century. One million copies are sold each year in 40 languages; the Library of Congress has said that it's second only to the Bible as books most often cited as making a difference. The film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, won a trio of Academy Awards, and the U.S. Postal Service's new stamp honoring Peck depicts him wearing glasses, as Finch. Behind it all was a young Southern girl named Nelle Harper Lee, who once joked that she wanted to be South Alabama's Jane Austen. Hey, Boo explores Lee's life and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding her, including why she never published again. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication. Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, Anna Quindlen, Rosanne Cash, Wally Lamb, Richard Russo, Scott Turow, Andrew Young and others reflect on the novel's power, influence, and popularity, and the many ways it has shaped their lives.

Director: Mary McDonagh Murphy
Director: Mary Murphy
Producer: Christopher Seward
Producer: Mary McDonagh Murphy
Actor: Bob Mayer
Actor: Christopher Seward
Actor: Donna Coney Island
Actor: Jane Beasley
Actor: Jennifer Laird White
Actor: Adriana Trigiani
Actor: Alice Finch Lee
Actor: Allan Gurganus
Actor: Andrew Young
Actor: Anna Quindlen
Actor: Boaty Boatwright
Actor: David Kipen
Actor: Diane McWhorter
Actor: James Patterson
Actor: Jane Ellen Clark
Actor: Jon Meacham
Actor: Joy Brown
Actor: Lee Smith
Actor: Lizzie Skurnick
Actor: Mark Childress
Actor: Mary Badham
Actor: Mary Tucker
Actor: Michael Brown
Actor: Reverend Thomas Lane Butts
Actor: Rick Bragg
Actor: Rosanne Cash
Actor: Tom Brokaw
Actor: Wally Lamb
Actor: Oprah Winfrey
Actor: James McBride
Actor: Scott Turow
Actor: Richard Russo