Harper Lee

One of my heroes made a rare public appearance last week..

Since the release of "Capote," much of her time has been spent writing demurrals to reporters seeking interviews about her life. Someone suggested she come up with a form-letter response to such requests.

What it would say, she joked, "is hell, no."

I'm sorry, but I just love her. Or what little I know of her anyway. And I'm just that much more jealous of Exador, whose niece is named Harper Lee. That's much cooler than Katherine.