Lonnie Bunch, President, Chicago Historical Society
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
I first read the novel as a 10th-grader in Mr. Lally’s “enriched literature” class at Belleville High School in Belleville, New Jersey.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
This is a difficult question because there were so many memorable characters. I think that I was drawn to the father, Atticus, because of his willingness to stand against the crowd in order to do what was right. In my family we were taught to always “fight the good fight.” It was our task to do what we could to make America better. I was struck how much the father sacrificed in order to make America better.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
Issues of race and fairness are still at the center of our conversations both within the city and within the country. This novel champions the essential humanity of all people and signals the need for all people to accept risks, even danger, in order to ensure that we live in a place that is ripe with fairness and equality. This is a lesson that I learned from this book—a lesson that is never too late or too early to learn.
Mary A. Dempsey, Chicago Public Library
To Kill a Mockingbird is the quintessential American novel. It unveils human nature to reveal both its goodness and its warts. From the first sentence, we are absorbed by the characters—courageous, cowardly, eccentric, memorable—and the uniquely American situations in which they dwell. Harper Lee’s classic novel haunts you long after you finish the final chapter—which, for me, is the mark of a great and magnificent book.
Rita A. Fry, Cook County Public Defender
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
I first read this novel when I was a freshman in high school on the West Side of Chicago. It was an all-girls Catholic high school and part of an English assignment.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
Atticus Finch was the most memorable because he was a lawyer committed to representing a difficult client during dangerous time, and he showed a lot of strength, courage and determination to fight for justice, in the way that he represented a poor black man despite the odds against him. It was my first experience in understanding that lawyers could have an impact on the way justice is dispensed in America, and that they (lawyers) could make a difference.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
I think it is an important book because it gives people an opportunity to know many characters of different ages, races and socio-economic status. Many of the problems that are currently occurring in Chicago around race relations could benefit from a reading and discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Any additional comments?
It is a wonderful and courageous thing that the City of Chicago is doing in recommending this classic book to all Chicagoans, without regard to political correctness.
Jack Greenberg, Chairman & CEO, McDonald’s Corporation
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
Like many people, I first read this literary classic when I was in high school. At that time, while I enjoyed the book, I didn’t absorb its full meaning. I re-read it as a young law student, while attending night school at DePaul University. It was then that I was more deeply struck by the characters and the touching story told by Harper Lee.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
Atticus Finch. Although it is difficult to choose only one character, I select Atticus because of his deep respect for justice in our country. He is a hero as a lawyer, a father and an individual.
Lee’s characters lived through a most difficult time in our history. Atticus represented his client fairly and objectively in spite of tumultuous community discussion and emotion. He also served as a community role model, helping his family to mature and learn important lessons about people, justice and the wrongs of prejudice, so prevalent at this point in history.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird is an important book for any Chicagoan and any American to read because it is a keen reminder of prejudices that can exist in society and the detriment they pose to communities. The characters learn powerful lessons about maturity, fairness and equality that serve as important life lessons for each of us to embrace today.
Any additional comments?
To the City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Library—McDonald’s thanks you for encouraging literacy and education, critically important subjects that are the backbone of our society.
Scott Lassar, United States Attorney
The significance of the book to me is that a lawyer is risking his reputation, friendships and law practice to take on an unpopular case because it is the morally correct thing to do.
Jerry Manuel, Manager, Chicago White Sox
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
I believe I first read To Kill a Mockingbird while in grade school.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
The attorney, Atticus Finch. He was most memorable to me because he represented justice in the book. He believed strongly in his convictions and had the courage to defend Tom Robinson. He is a very moral and ethical man. He is a leader among men.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird is an important book for Chicagoans to read because it brings communities together.
Judy Markley, Co-host, The Kathy and Judy Show, WGN Radio
The weirdest thing about my recollection of To Kill a Mockingbird is that I have no memory at all of there being a rape trial in it. Rather, my memory is that it was a book about a wise, touching child. A child whose confoundments and observations left me feeling moved, and thoughtful, and a bit Jell-O-y. It was a book that combined mind-provocation with great heart. Boo Radley of course was a character who always lingered in my brain (when I first saw John Lithgow I thought he was Boo incarnate), but for me, it was always Scout’s story.
It was also a book that initiated my penchant for adult stories told from a child’s point of view—books like Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers and Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg. I have shelves of these books now—and I guess in my personal Dewey Decimal System I think of them as my Old Souls Shelves. Scout may well have been my first, and is assuredly my most, indelible “old soul.”
I can’t wait to re-read it. A third time.
Phil Ponce, Host, Chicago Tonight, WTTW Channel 11
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
While most people first read To Kill a Mockingbird when they are students, I first read it when I was an adult here in Chicago. I had seen the movie, of course, and also a high school production of the play, but reading the book was still a rich experience because of the added texture a reader gets that a movie or theater-goer does not.
And it was a rich experience for another reason: the copy I read had been used by two of my children so I could see the portions they had highlighted and their comments in the margins. That gave me an insight into the parts that resonated with them. For example, a note in the margins that Atticus “understands children” or that a passage is “ironic” or that a certain episode shows that “Scout is maturing” is a small window into my children’s minds at the time they read the book in high school.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
The character I found most memorable is that of the community itself, Maycomb. The town has a personality, quality and “feel” to it that makes it more than just a backdrop for the events that transpire in it; it is an active participant in the drama.
First, Harper Lee has given Maycomb a vivid physical dimension. You can see Maycomb as clearly as you can see Atticus, Scout, Jem and the other people in their lives. You know what the streets, houses, yards and gardens looked like and you can clearly picture the town square on the night Atticus strung a light and stood guard outside the county jail.
But Lee has also given Maycomb a moral complexity: one which struggles between its better instincts and its darker side. As Atticus points out to Scout and Jem, some people in the town may be their foes during a key episode—but the same people are also their friends.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird is an important book for Chicagoans to read because many of us have a version of the Radley place: a place, a neighborhood, a part of the city that seems foreboding and to be avoided—one that we hurry by, much as Scout and Jem did on their street in Maycomb. Ultimately, of course, the Radley place turns out to be a source of great love—a lesson that goes well beyond the streets of a small Alabama town.
Isabel Stewart, Executive Director, Chicago Foundation for Women
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
In the early 1960s, To Kill a Mockingbird provided a window on the mid-century South for me as a second-generation Northerner when I worked in tutorial programs for the Northern Student Movement in support of the far more courageous and risk-taking Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early days of the civil rights movement. The dignity of both Atticus and Tom Robinson remain in memory and was reflected in young people I knew, black and white, who committed themselves to work back then on voter registration in Alabama and Mississippi.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
Scout and Cal stand out for me as models, respectively, of girlhood and womanhood: strong, smart, bold, feisty and audacious, with distinctive voices of their own.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
To Kill a Mockingbird is a well-told story in the tradition of Strange Fruit earlier and A Lesson Before Dying more recently that brings home for all of us the corrosion of mind and soul wrought by poverty and ignorance. Atticus’ lesson to Scout and her brother (and perhaps to Chicagoans determined to make life in this city viable and vibrant for all of us) is “courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
Jayne Carr Thompson, President, Board of Directors, Chicago Public Library
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
I first read the book when I was in grade school, and later reread it in high school. I read it at home in my room.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
Of course the most memorable character in the book is Atticus. His thoughtful speech on behalf of his client in court is simple, but spellbinding—probably because of its simplicity. For me, Atticus was at his best in conversing with his children. He evinced love and respect for them and for his role as a parent when he used the same simple, but thoughtful language with his children that he used in court to defend a man accused of rape. The author successfully positions Atticus as a man who says all the right things about race and bigotry, and at the same time, embodies the values he espouses because of his willingness to defend a black man.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
This book is very important to everyone because it vividly demonstrates the effects of racial discrimination in a simple, but startling, manner. Its lessons are no less applicable today than they were when the book was first published. Unfortunately, they are still as necessary today as they were then.
Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian
To Kill a Mockingbird is a remarkable and unforgettable story that continues to teach us so much about life. I strongly urge everyone to read this touching and suspenseful novel of race and justice as seen through the eyes of a young person.
Chris Zorich, Chairman, The Christopher Zorich Foundation
When and where did you first read To Kill a Mockingbird?
I remember my mom used to read it to me when I was little. However, I read it for the first time when I was in grammar school. I remember my mom giving me my first lessons on “issues of race and gender” with Mockingbird. She drew comparisons of how our (and those around us) daily lives were affected by similar situations in the book.
Which character is the most memorable to you and why?
My favorite when I was a child was Scout, because she was a kid and I could relate to how she saw things. Interestingly enough, my favorite character is still Scout. However, now it’s because of the way Lee tells you this wonderful story through the mind and ideals of an innocent child. If only life were that simple.
What do you think makes To Kill a Mockingbird such an important book for all Chicagoans to read?
Besides that fact that it’s a phenomenal book. I think everyone should read it. However, along with reading, there has to be proper discussion that follows to help the readers if they feel uncomfortable about certain issues covered in the book. I think Chicagoans should read it because the book paints a picture of a “not so perfect society” which still exists. Unfortunately, it exists here in Chicago, we are still one of the most segregated cities in the country. If we want to help bring America together, we have to do it by one neighborhood, one city, one state at time and I think encouraging Chicagoans to read To Kill a Mockingbird is a terrific beginning. The selection of Mockingbird is a great step in getting people excited about reading and who knows maybe we could unify Chicago in the process.
