Oliver Peoples & To Kill A Mockingbird

One of my favorite books of all time is Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Shortly after it was published in 1960, it was turned into a movie (1962) in which half of the money needed to make it was provided by actor Gregory Peck. Peck had such great respect for Harper Lee’s only published piece of literature, that one of his grandson’s was named Harper as a way to pay homage.

The film To Kill A Mockingbird earned Peck an Academy Award for best actor for playing Scout’s father, Atticus, which he has said was one of his favorite roles. As testament to this fact in some small way, the gentleman who played Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), the character Peck’s character defended, read Peck’s eulogy at his funeral in 2003.

With the 50th anniversary of the film right around the corner, the founder of Oliver Peoples eye glasses, Larry and Dennis Leight, are introducing a Gregory Peck frame.

After being approached by Gregory Peck’s son, Anthony Peck (who is also a loyal customer of Oliver Peoples) who now has the famed “Atticus” frames, he felt such a style would be something well-recognized and appreciated by the public.

 

Images via The Times Magazine

Always in Vogue

One of my favorite novels and most intriguing and respected authors has reached a silver anniversary today, and I couldn’t let it go unnoticed on the blog.  Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is celebrating fifty years since being released in 1960, earning three Academy Awards for the film starring Gregory Peck in 1963 and having earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1961.

(Nelle Harper Lee in the balcony of the courtroom in Monroeville, Alabama, where her father, A.C. Lee, regularly tried his cases.)

Many people wonder why she hasn’t written a second novel, and while there is wide speculations (in fact, she did begin one and worked diligently to produce it), her sister Alice said simply that Nelle (Harper is her middle name) knew with her next work she would only go down with regards to success.  Maybe she’s right, who’s to say.  The production of her most successful novel took over ten years – rewritten three different times - each in a different point of view (the published version is in two points of view – first and third) and was said to be a tribute to her father who wasn’t too keen on her moving to New York City and abandoning her education of become a lawyer, as a way to show respect and proof that her idea to move to New York was not in vain.

I find myself coming across more and more people who have either named their child or their dog Scout due to their appreciation of the novel, many of them teachers, but not all. All of this focus on a novel that has provoked me to read subsequent books to further understand the theme and the author (Charles J. Shields’ Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee), as well as literary critiques caused me to come to the conclusion (one I have always been aware of, but maybe never truly expressed) - that being well-read will never go out of style. Consider this quality the little black dress of life if you will.

“Fashion fades, only style remains,” is one of the many timeless and true aphorisms uttered by Coco Chanel, and it is applicable beyond the confines of the fashion industry. A woman (or a man) will continue to be intriguing far beyond their beautiful facade if they continue to fill their mind with voluptuous amounts of the written word.  Whether it be a classic here and there, followed by a quick beach read, and don’t forget the articles in numerous well-respected magazines and journals, newspapers, worthwhile internet articles, the list could go on and on.

Needless to say, read. Carry a book in your purse at all times for those moments when you are waiting in the doctor’s office, or stuck in traffic.  Read, learn, soak up all sorts of varying perspectives so that when you do come to a conclusion, you’ve done so with an open mind.

And of course, your cocktail party chit chat will never be lacking.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

 

Images: (1) Source (2) Source  (3) Source (4) Source (5) We Heart It (6) Source

The Nourishment of Books

Books for me are akin to a bank account overflowing with wealth. There is a genuine comfort in knowing that I have, within my reach, a book to get lost in or to learn from or even to simply gaze within all dependent on my mood. Whether it be a classic such as Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird or a tearful, but at the same time uplifting memoir like Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, there is tranquility in knowing I can always take my thoughts somewhere else.

During my days in graduate school, I came to realize that having a solitary book upon my bed stand was equal to having not one. I remember vividly my mentor's description of the many books beside her bed stand. "A book of every genre because I'm never quite sure what my mood will be at the end of the day. All I know for certain is that I will need a book to end it." I envisioned two or three stacks, or should I say piles, of books alongside her bed. Although I never saw it, her description was motivation enough for me to slowly begin to relinquish the least bit of guilt for having my own mini-library beside my bed.

Photo: Elle Decor

As the years have passed, my own pile has grown, shrunk and grown again, depending upon how quickly I keep up. Currently I have Muriel Barbery's Gourmet Rhapsody, Mireille Guiliano's French Women for All Seasons, Peter Mayle's Toujours Provence, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (the first cookbook I have ever read in bed!) and three other books from the library that looked interesting (I already know I'm going to have to exhaust all of my renewals).

Regardless of how many books I have or how many times I have read my favorites, the beauty of books is that there is always a plethora of new ones to explore. Maybe that's why books are such a comfort, because it is understood that they will always be there, dependable like a loyal pup. There is one new release in particular that I am anxious to get my hands on that becomes available tomorrow, and while it is sitting on my Amazon Wish List, I hope to have it sometime soon delivered to my door. For women who struggle, strive and hopefully succeed in having it all, I am curious to see how exactly she does it, Mika Brzezinski's All Things At Once. If anyone has read it and has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Here's to happy reading, and may you find exactly what you need at the end of your day sitting upon your bed stand tonight!