Series of Letters by Harper Lee Sell for $12,500
Los Angeles--Thirty-eight handwritten letters by Harper Lee to her friend Felice Itzkoff, sold tonight for $12,500 by Nate D. Sanders Auctions.
Harper Lee, the renowned author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Go Set a Watchman," was great friends with New Yorker Felice Izkoff as both women hailed from Alabama.
On January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama’s inauguration day, Lee recalled in one of the letters to Itzkoff, a conversation between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Gregory Peck, which Peck had shared with her. Lee wrote, “On this Inauguration Day I count my blessings...I'm also thinking of another friend, Greg Peck, who was a good friend of LBJ. Greg said to him, 'Do you suppose we will live to see a black President?' LBJ said, 'No, but I wish her well ...’ Harper …” President Johnson was optimistically predicting the election of a black female President in the future.
In another interesting letter, Lee recalled a story told to her by her friend Vivien Leigh, about the evening Leigh’s ex-husband Sir Laurence Olivier insulted Hellen Keller. In the May 2009 letter, Lee wrote, “He was 'on' one night and was considerably annoyed by the 'noise' coming from two people in the audience. 'Somebody making slapping sounds-can't the management put a stop to it?' / 'If you want to put a stop to Helen Keller's enjoyment of your program, have her interpreter be quiet,' he was told. 'It is sometimes rather noisy, when things go as they should.' Of course, Olivier melted, begged Miss Keller's pardon, and gave the rest of his performance in her honor, seemingly unaware of the 'noise.’”
Additional information on the letters can be found at
http://natedsanders.com/38_Letters_by_Harper_Lee_With_A__Content____On_Oba-LOT47647.aspx
About Nate D. Sanders Auctions
An industry leader in documents and autographs, Nate D. Sanders Auctions has conducted auctions in Los Angeles since 1990 and now holds major auctions on a monthly basis. Owner Nate Sanders is recognized for his knowledge of sports, historical and Hollywood memorabilia. To learn more visit natedsanders.com
