Mockingbird (50 page)

12. T
HE
G
OLDEN
G
OOSE

E
PILOGUE:
T
HE
D
IKE
I
S
B
REACHED

“She once said to me when we were up late one night, sharing a bottle of scotch: ‘You ever wonder why I never wrote anything else?' And I said, ‘Well, along with a million other people, yes.' “I espoused two or three ideas. I said maybe you didn't want to compete with yourself. She said, ‘Bull … Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with
To Kill a Mockingbird
for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again.'”

Greg Richter, “Friend Finds Why Harper Lee Didn't Write Again,”
The Birmingham
(Alabama)
News
, 7 August 2011.