OK, I know — we had a revolution so that we don’t have a monarch anymore. Two of my grandparents even left Britain, first for Canada and then for the U.S. But I have other relatives in both places, and I treasure my memories of many different places in Britain. Five places in Britain (and one in Canada) are in easy sight over my PC as I write this.

But there is a dearth of good news in this country right now. CNN is reporting today that ten mass shootings happened over the weekend just past — and their locations “show that nowhere in the U.S. is truly safe.”

I need to know about that, but I need to celebrate beauty, steadfastness, and consistency. I need a dose of “We have always done it this way.” I got that from following the news of the Platinum Jubilee.

Even though I react to air shows like four-year-old Prince Louis, with my hands over my ears and a yell about the discomfort, I enjoyed seeing the British royal family out on the balcony and in other places, watching things together. Seeing Louis and his grandfather, Prince Charles, along with his great-grandmother, the queen, brought back my faint memories of celebrating my third birthday and my grandfather’s 80th back in… well, when I turned three.

I’ve loved maple syrup and maple sugar since that time, visiting Canada for our birthdays (which are a week apart in dates, just not years).

The queen’s little co-star on Saturday, Paddington Bear, leaves me wondering: How many little kids will love marmalade sandwiches now and invest them with memories the way I do with maple sugar?

The simple memories can last the longest, and I want simpler memories just now.

To Kill a Mockingbird has long been my favorite book. I’ve become less vocal about it, however, as Atticus Finch, the white lawyer who defends a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman in 1930s Alabama, is reevaluated through modern sensibilities. 

The hero has been taken down from his pedestal. Critics on the left now fault Atticus for being misguided about preaching the goodness in everyone, even the racist villain Bob Ewell, and blind to the grave dangers of racial hatred. 

So I was curious to see how writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network) updated Harper Lee’s classic for a present-day audience. I saw Sorkin’s stage adaptation in its recent run at the Nederlander Theatre. 

Sorkin gives more voice to the two main Black characters, Tom Robinson, the accused, and Calpurnia, the housekeeper for the widowed Atticus and his two children. Calpurnia speaks out against Atticus’s philosophy about putting oneself in another’s shoes. Racists should be opposed, not understood, she argues.

With a new perspective on Atticus, I’m jotting down questions in case my book group might be interested in reading the novel. 

• Presumably author Harper Lee intended Atticus to be heroic, but are there suggestions that she knew he is naive? Specifically, does she show us anything good about Bob Ewell to justify Atticus’s belief in the goodness in every person? How efficacious is Atticus’s philosophy?

• Some critics have called Atticus a racist because he reluctantly represents Tom Robinson and does not activity try to change a racist system. To not be a racist, is it enough to treat everyone considerately?

• Does Atticus’s thinking change by the end of the book?

• Is a novel about a white savior out of place today, and should To Kill a Mockingbird be retired from school curriculums? As the Sun-Times critic said about the play, “White people don’t need reassurance that they are good. We need reassessment of just what we’re willing to do to combat white supremacy.”

*****

It wasn’t so much the character of Atticus that made me love To Kill a Mockingbird as that of Scout (aka Jean Louise), his daughter and saucy narrator of the book. Scout, who is five when the action begins and nine when it concludes, narrates the novel with charm and intelligence. The book is not only about race but also about a young girl’s growing up in a society that expects her to be “a lady.”

Scout passes present-day inspection better than Atticus. Rebellion against the constraints of femininity is even more acceptable today than it was in 1935. Scout spends her free time with boys, her brother Jem and their friend Dill. She prefers overalls to dresses, resists her aunt’s attempts to make a lady of her, and raises her fists at boys. 

The stage adaptation is no longer a young girl’s story. While Scout is still prominent, she shares the narration with Jem and Dill and cedes the protagonist role to Atticus. I understand that a 2½-hour adaptation can’t include everything in a novel, but I missed a few incidents featuring Scout.

*****

Despite modern reservations, To Kill a Mockingbird remains America’s favorite novel on many lists, including PBS’s Great American Read in 2018. It is the most-read book in classrooms.

Sorkin’s adaptation was the highest-grossing American play in Broadway history. It is now on national tour and will also resume this summer in another Broadway theater with a new cast.

Getting More from Les Blog Readers: You might have read that WXRT has hired a new DJ, AnnaLisa Parziale, a radio veteran with stints in San Francisco and Boston. Somehow, an email from ‘XRT program director Laura Duncan to Annalisa wound up in my inbox. I reproduce it below with only slight editing for brevity.

******

Dear Annalisa,

Welcome to Chicago and WXRT. As your program director, I am sure that I will be your new best friend in the whole world, no matter what Lin Brehmer tells you.

I know that throughout your career you have heard great things about WXRT and that you are looking forward to all the freedom and variety that you will have while programming your show. There are just a few little rules, or as I like to call them, suggestions, that will help you fit into our family.

You are required to play one song by The Cure on each shift. We have six tracks to choose from. I prefer if you don’t play Friday I’m In Love on Fridays. It is just sooo cliche.The Clash must always be referred to as The Only Band That Matters, even though we only have two of their songs on our allowed playlist.Terri plays the Beatles. Period.We feature a heavy rotation of one Grateful Dead song a month. Last month’s selection was Touch of Grey. This month I haven’t yet decided between Uncle John’s Band or Touch of Grey. I will let you know when I make up my mind. In the meantime, in case you have any inclination to play Truckin’, don’t.Sprinkle in a few anecdotes of the first time you heard a particular band in concert. It doesn’t have to make sense, but it shows the listeners you are just like them.Playing Chicago music means playing Smashing Pumpkins, or occasionally Wilco. And a couple of blues guys to prove how hip we are. Their names escape me.For the first 45 years of this station, Aerosmith was just the misspelling of a Sinclair Lewis novel. But ever since The Loop, Chicago’s harder rock station, shut down, we at XRT have been courting their Incel former listeners. Therefore we have been rocking Dream On every other Tuesday. Ditto, I’m looking for a slot to crank out some Van Halen. You good with Panama?We don’t do news, Huey Lewis or otherwise. Mary Dixon has left the building.In view of your recent history in Massachusetts, and because our listeners fantasize over Phoebe Cates, you may play The Cars Moving in Stereo as often as you desire. On the other hand, playing the band Boston is strictly verboten. So is playing Chicago.Måneskin. Always more Måneskin. I’m begging.

Good luck and welcome.

REM forever,

Laura

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Okay…okay…get your mind out of the gutter. The title has nothing to do with what you’re thinking. We’re down to the final few days of year number sixty-nine on earth.

Birthday number seventy is this coming Saturday. I’m surprisingly calm about reaching this milestone. Okay…maybe not one hundred percent calm, but certainly much more relaxed than I would have ever guessed. This is from a guy who spent his fortieth birthday hiding in a bedroom from his wife, mother and young children because he was freaked out over that number. It looks like I’ll do way better with this much higher number. But since we still have almost a week to go, that’s not a certainty. I do reserve the right to freak out.

Honestly, I’m looking forward to this next decade. Sure, it’s scary because of the mortality/closer to the end. But, that’s not a whole lot different than it was ten years ago, at sixty. You just try to make the most of every day and be grateful you’re still here.

Plus, there will be grandchild number two in early November. WOOO! IT’S A GIRL!! WOOOOO! Someone new to spoil! I can’t ask for a better seventieth birthday present.

But, in the meantime, I’m going to do my best to try to enjoy the final few days of sixty-nine. To quote Michael Scott, “That’s what she said.”

Related Post: One month to go until getting the 70 club membership card

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