Summary

Cep introduces Nelle Harper Lee by telling the story of the Ladies of the Senate Luncheon, in which Maryon Pittman Allen could not find a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Looking for a book to give to Mrs. Carter, Maryon called a mutual friend, John Forney, in an attempt to find Lee. Forney told her that Nelle was in Alexander City writing, and got her “the secret [phone] number” for Allen to get in touch (150). Lee sent a copy to Allen inscribed with a note for Mrs. Carter. Soon after, Maryon forgot all about Nelle as her political career advanced. Cep notes that it was “easy enough to forget about Harper Lee,” as To Kill a Mockingbird had come out 18 years earlier and, in that time, Lee had published nothing new (151). She avoided the press, trying to...