Myth buster!

Did Capote write To Kill a Mockingbird?

Our Capote exhibit opened with major international news coverage when we placed on display a previously unpublished Capote letter to his Aunt Mary Ida that finally put to rest rumors that Capote may have written To Kill a Mockingbird. A July 9, 1959 letter from Capote to Mary Ida in Monroeville clearly debunks the myth that Capote wrote the classic tome and shows that Capote had only minimal access to Lee’s manuscript. “Yes, it is true that Nelle Lee is publishing a book. I did not see Nelle last winter, but the previous year she showed me as much of the book as she’d written, and I liked it very much. She has real talent.”

Butterbeans!
Capote never lost his love for Southern food. Notice that he signs off in this letter with, “Oh I do wish I could have some butterbeans. Now! This very minute.”

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