by Frank Bergman, Slay News: A major county in Washington state is battling a crisis of surging heart attack deaths among the almost universally Covid-vaccinated population. King County, which covers Washington’s most populous city of Seattle, has a population of 2.271 million people. A whopping 98% of King County residents received at least one shot […]

  After penning one of the most famous, successful, and yet controversial novels of its time and future, Harper Lee became instantly famous. However, the author did not embrace celebrity and fame, instead choosing to stay out of the limelight whenever possible. Multifaceted, private, and intriguing, Lee remained a curiosity to many, whether they were distant observers or even close, lifelong friends. The sometimes reclusive writer rode the success of her debut novel for the rest of her life, weaving an existence that was often hidden from the eyes of the public.   1. Lee’s First Name Wasn’t Harper Harper Lee playing golf, one of her lifelong hobbies, in an undated Donald Uhrbrock photo. Source: The New Yorker   Nelle Harper Lee was the child of Amasa and Frances Lee, the youngest of four siblings. Born April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, Lee was active in sports and a voracious reader. Once she became a published author, Nelle decided to drop her first name and go by her middle name, concerned that her monniker would be pronounced incorrectly as “Nellie.”   2. Lee Studied Law Harper Lee in a 1963 AP Photo. Source: Time   After graduating from high school in Monroeville and attending a private women’s college for a year, Lee finished her undergraduate work at the University of Alabama. Following graduation, she studied briefly at Oxford, then moved back to the University of Alabama to pursue law, her father’s occupation.   3. Lee Was a Close Friend of Truman Capote & Even Based a Character on Him Truman Capote at age 8. Source: Truman Capote Literary Trust photo via The New York Times   One of Lee’s best friends throughout her life was also one of the most famous authors of the 20th century. Truman Capote moved to Monroeville to stay with an aunt at age 4, and the two soon forged a friendship. Lee’s father bought them a typewriter, and the two began documenting the elaborate stories they had crafted about the people in their neighborhood.   A diminutive child, Capote was often the target of bullies, with Nelle coming to his defense. This closeness persisted as the two grew up, even after Capote moved to New York to live with his mother as a teen. They bonded over their shared love of writing, among other aspects of their lives, including troubled relationships with their mothers. They supported one another’s careers, and Lee even based the character of Dill Harris on her friend.   Philip Seymore Hoffman as Capote and Catherine Keener as Lee in 2005’s Capote. Source: Sony Pictures   Lee became an employee of her friend as he traveled to Kansas to do research for his novel, In Cold Blood. Using her natural interest in true crime in the law while working as his research assistant, Lee also proved helpful in other ways. She was often a buffer between the sometimes abrasive Capote and the people of Holman, Kansas, who were necessary to successfully gather the information needed for Capote to write his bestseller. By the end of the trip, she’d not only forged valuable relationships for the project but had created over 150 pages of notes for Capote to utilize.   Lee and Capote in 1960. Source: Truman Capote Literary Trust Photo via The New York Times   However, as both of their writing careers soared in the 60s, the relationship between the two friends soured. Capote did not acknowledge Lee’s contributions to his seminal work, which hurt her deeply. In addition, her success as a writer with the release of To Kill a Mockingbird brought out feelings of jealousy in Truman. Capote’s drug and alcohol habits furthered the rift between the pair, and the two were estranged when Capote died in 1984.   4. A Christmas Gift Propelled Her Writing Career Lee participates in a Q&A with Mary McDonah, left, and friend Joy Brown, right, in a PBS Documentary in 2015. Source: PBS   Harper Lee moved to New York City in the hopes of propelling her writing career as the 1950s were dawning. She worked odd jobs, including as an airline ticket agent, and eventually moved in with friends Michael and Joy Brown to help save money. In 1956, the pair gave her an envelope with funds equivalent to a year’s salary and a note that read, “You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.”   Michael Brown performing in 1954. Gilman photo. Source: Texas Monthly   Shocked, Lee protested, but her friends eventually convinced her to accept the gift. Determined to put their money to good use, she spent her time working on a manuscript titled Go Set a Watchman, dropping chapters off to a friend of Michael’s, an agent, as she completed them. The agent approached a publisher for her, and while they liked her work, they weren’t sold. She started on another book, using stories based on her childhood, which the publisher felt had more potential. Working with editor Tay Hohoff, Lee created and polished the book that eventually became To Kill a Mockingbird.   5. Lee’s First Novel Was Wildly Successful, Yet Controversial A statue depicting a young girl reading To Kill a Mockingbird sits in Monroeville, Alabama. G.M. Andrews photo. Source: The New Yorker   Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was not only one of the most celebrated books of the 20th century, it went down as one of the great works of American literary history, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Since its original publishing date, the story of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and her childhood world has been translated into 40 different languages worldwide. Over 40 million copies have been sold, and it spent an amazing 893 weeks on USA Today’s Best Selling Books list—especially incredible since the list wasn’t created until 33 years after the book’s original publishing date.   As a child, Mary Badham played Scout Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of Mockingbird, 2015 Nancy Crampton photo. Source: Newsweek   Regardless of her novel’s status as a megahit, Harper Lee hated the spotlight that came with its release. She remained a recluse of sorts for much of her life, refusing interviews and avoiding public events. She harbored suspicion about many, believing that their motives to befriend her lay in a desire to feed off her celebrity or finances. Even those who knew Lee best, such as neighbor Marja Mills, often found themselves in hot water with the author. When Mills released a memoir about her time living next door to and spending time with Lee and her sister, Nelle denied any cooperation with the release. In her advanced years, a security guard stood watch at Lee’s nursing home to prevent any unwanted visitors from gaining access to the writer.   Lee on her parents’ porch in 1961, Photo by Donald Uhrbrock. Source: The Wall Street Journal   Despite its success, Lee’s book has been challenged on various levels, resulting in bans at some schools and libraries. Specific objections to the novel include the use of the “n-word,” its portrayal of African Americans, and claims of “immorality” based on the story’s discussion of rape.   6. Lee Wouldn’t Publish Her Second Book Until She Was in Her 80s Jennie Hausler waits in line to purchase a copy of Go Set a Watchman in Florida in 2015. Joe Raedle photo. Source: USA Today   Although Go Set a Watchman was written before Mockingbird, it remained hidden and unpublished in a safe deposit box for decades. It was rediscovered by a friend in 2015 and published amid controversy that Lee, residing in a nursing home after a 2007 stroke, may not be competent enough to approve its release. Two million advance copies of the book were sold, and it sold 700,000 more copies on its first day of release, making it the most successful adult novel to date in America.   7. The Author’s Father Inspired Her Writing Lee and her father, A.C., in an undated photo by Donald Uhrbrock. Source: The Wall Street Journal   The character of Atticus Finch was a central player in both of Lee’s novels and was loosely based on her father, Amasa, or A.C., Lee. Like Finch, Lee’s father represented African American defendants in the courtroom during an era when equality was almost nonexistent in the American South.   8. Harper Lee Won the Presidential Medal of Freedom Lee was honored by President George W. Bush in a video still from Washington Post coverage of the event. Source: Washington Post   In 2007, Harper Lee received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-president George W. Bush. The Medal is the highest civilian honor in the United States and was awarded to Lee based on the strides her first-published book made in focusing readers on racial inequality in the United States.   9. Lee’s High School English Teacher Was One of Her Biggest Supporters Lee photographed in Montgomery, Alabama by Rob Carr in 2007. Source: USA Today   Gladys Watson taught English at Monroeville High School and became one of young Harper Lee’s most influential mentors. Emphasizing grammar and requiring students to emphasize “the three C’s”: cadence, coherence, and clarity, Watson helped Lee further develop her skills as a writer. The two kept in touch through the future author’s graduation, college experience, and migration to New York. Lee felt so strongly about Watson’s influence that she asked the teacher to proofread Mockingbird before she sent the final copy to the publisher. In thanks and celebration, the author took her former teacher on vacation to England after the release.   10. She Had a Love-Hate Relationship With Her Hometown of Monroeville (Mostly Love) The Museum that Lee sued in 2013 in a photo by Jennifer Brett. Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution   Other than a few years spent in New York, Harper Lee lived in Monroeville, Alabama, for the majority of her life. Named for James Monroe, 5th president, the town is not only the birthplace and home of the author but is believed by many to be the inspiration for Maycomb, the fictional town that provides the setting for her novels (Lee denied this emphatically).   Lee with friends Wayne Greenhaw and Mary Badham in 2010, photographed by Penny Weaver. Source: Tuscaloosa News   Lee, known to all in Monroeville as Ms. Nelle, was beloved in her town but still held people at arm’s length. Valuing her privacy until her death, Lee was a treasured resident of her town, but this relationship had its challenges. Lee actually sued the local museum for selling unauthorized merchandise based on her book in 2013. The lawsuit left many with “hard feelings” about their most famous citizen, especially since issues had been worked out privately in the past.   For example, when Lee objected to a cookbook based on Mockingbird that was sold in the museum, she and her sister Alice, a lawyer, contacted the organization and worked out a solution. This led some to speculate that it wasn’t Lee at all making the 2013 legal claims, but her new lawyer and power of attorney, Tonja Carter, who took over after Alice’s death, had planned to gain financially from the matter. Others, such as Lee’s friend Wayne Flynt, scoff at the idea, reminding the public that the complicated Lee has always had a “lover’s quarrel” with her hometown.

  In One Hundred Years of Solitude, author Gabriel Garcia Marquez introduces readers to the fictional Buendia family living in the Central American town of Macondo. Telling the story of six generations of the family, Garcia Marquez weaves a fantastical and dramatic tale, which eventually sold over 45 million copies. However, readers may be surprised to learn that some parts of the books are inspired by actual events. Though Macondo is a figment of the author’s imagination, its role as a “banana republic” and details of a massacre are shockingly true.   A Booming Business A page from “The Food Value of the Banana” published by United Fruit in 1917. Source: New York Academy of Medicine Center for History   Tropical fruits, particularly bananas, became increasingly popular in the United States near the end of the nineteenth century. Capitalizing on this rapid growth, the United Fruit Company was established in 1899 and created from a merger between two successful American businesses. The company soon had an extensive empire throughout Central and South America, utilizing the tropical environment to grow thousands of bananas and shipping them to the US and, eventually, globally.   As United Fruit grew, its influence expanded as well. The company was heavily involved in the development of “banana republics” in Latin America, which were generally unstable governments that were reliant on the production and export of bananas. These governments relied not only on bananas but often on funding from the companies producing them. Non-state actors such as United Fruit eventually played an ever-expanding role in the function and execution of politics in these countries. They selected officials, pushed for lawmaking that would benefit their business, and avoided taxation. In some cases, they even overthrew entire governments to install politicians who would look upon their business matters more favorably.   Bananas covered in pesticide-impregnated bags in 2019. Madison Stewart photo. Source: Pulitzer Center   A great deal of United Fruit’s profits came at the expense of the environment and local workers. Swaths of rainforest were destroyed to plant bananas, and impoverished people were often forced from their homes as a result. Chemicals were applied to fight banana disease and pests without much regard for the surrounding area or its people.   United Fruit controlled all aspects of its supply chain, and this hold extended to workers’ lives. Workers were generally locals or poor immigrants. They were paid pitiful wages, often in vouchers instead of cash, and lived where they worked in housing provided by the company. Their entire lives revolved around their work, which was often seven days a week. Poor sanitation was rampant, and disease was common among banana workers.   Efforts to Bring Change Leaders of the Colombian strike. Source: University of Toronto Mississauga Library   Workers in Colombia got tired of the oppression of working under United Fruit and decided to make efforts to change the status quo. In 1928, a strike committee was created in order to organize protest actions and coordinate workers. This led to the establishment of the Union Sindical de Trabajadores de Magdalena, the Magdalena Workers’ Union, or USTM. One of the new Union’s first actions was to create a list of requests and demands for workers, which was submitted to United Fruit.   The list included collective insurance, workers’ compensation, hygienic dwelling places and one day of rest during the week, a pay increase for the lower-paid workers, elimination of company commissaries and credit slips instead of wages, weekly paychecks, no subcontractors, and hospitals and sanitation. At the time, the Colombian United Fruit workforce, numbering 30,000 people, was paid biweekly in company credit.   “The New Banana” pamphlet from 1931, produced and distributed by United Fruit subsidiary The Fruit Dispatch Company. Source: New York Academy of Medicine Center for History   Though these requests were not outlandish, particularly by today’s standards, the implementation of the changes would have drastically increased the production and operation costs of the United Fruit Company. The company’s officials decided to utilize their considerable political power to solve the threat to their profits that the USTM brought.   United Fruit Fights Back A 1960 propaganda piece from Impact Publications warns against the threat of communism. Source: PBS   United Fruit capitalized on the state of affairs in America, where, although years from the Cold War, communism was already seen as a worrisome threat to democracy everywhere. United Fruit officials used media contacts to paint the striking workers as communists who were threatening not only Colombia’s government but the democratic governments of the world.   When asked to comment on the uprising, United Fruit made claims that the strikers were part of a “subversive movement” and that the company had received no complaints from workers regarding conditions (Koeppel, 2008).   A cartoon making a statement on United Fruit/Chiquita’s actions in Latin America created by Zach Minnich. Source: Bigger Life Adventures   Throughout its history, United Fruit has had considerable influence over the United States government and the governments within its production countries. Colombia was no exception. The company pressured the Colombian government to intervene and, when they did not, recruited aid from the government of their home country.   Calvin Coolidge by Samuel Johnson Woolf, 1923. Source: National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC   Though President Calvin Coolidge was not well versed or very interested in foreign affairs, leaving those dealings to his cabinet members, he did desire to grow America’s commercial interests. US business involvement in Latin America was heavy during his term as president and sometimes included military support from the US government.   United Fruit leaned on the Coolidge administration for support during the strike and received it. US marines stationed off the shores of Colombia threatened to invade the country if the Colombian government refused to step up and stem the strike. Realizing the economic impact and military intimidation this threat potentially carried, the Colombian government decided to act as United Fruit desired. Martial law was declared on December 5 (Koeppel, 2008).   The Banana Massacre The Colombian flag. Source: Flagpedia   The next day, December 6, a crowd gathered in the town of Cienaga. Though many in the throng were striking workers, they were not gathering to protest specifically. It was a Sunday, and many had just attended services at a nearby church and were waiting to hear a speech from the regional governor (Koeppel, 2008). Many believed that the USTM list of demands was to be discussed. In addition to United Fruit workers, the crowd included their families and children.   A Colombian soldier on duty in a Luca Zanetti Photo. Source: Norwegian Refugee Council   In addition to the gathered public, members of the Colombian military gathered. Rooftop machine gun positions were set up around the square, four in total, one at each corner of the public square (Koeppel, 2008). Led by General Carlos Cortes Vargas, who later claimed he was only acting to prevent an invasion by a foreign power, the soldiers gave an order for the square to be cleared within five minutes. Though they could see the soldiers and their firepower assembled, many in the crowd refused to believe that the army would fire at innocents and that the governor’s arrival would calm the increasingly chaotic scene. In addition, the number of people packed into the small area made it impossible for those who wanted to leave to do so (Koeppel, 2008).   Jefferson Caffery has a road in Louisiana named after him. KATC 3 photo. Source: KATC 3   The troops opened fire on the crowd of unarmed men, women, and children. The number of people killed is not known concretely, but estimates generally range from 1,000-3,000. The US ambassador to Colombia, Jefferson Caffery, proudly reported in a dispatch to Washington, “I have the honor to report…that the total number of strikers killed by the Colombian military exceeded one thousand.”   The Presidential Address by Ricardo Rendon Bravo, 1929, mocks Colombian President Miguel Abadia Mendez and the influence the US had over him. Source: Banco de la República Virtual Library   It is unknown what happened to the bodies of the slain, though some reports indicate that the military loaded the bodies on trains and disposed of them either in a mass grave or in the ocean. The massacre would shape the future of Colombia’s government, resulting in the eventual removal of the conservative status quo and the institution of a more liberal regime. Despite this, the United Fruit Company maintained a hold on the politics of the region.   Gabriel Garcia Marquez working on his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude in 1965 in a photo by Guillermo Angulo. Source: University of Texas, Ransom Center   The event, branded the masacre de las bananeras locally, was not extensively covered in the US media, though Colombian papers actively reported on it. No photos of the event exist, at least in the public realm. The president of Colombia, Miguel Abadia Mendez, tried to minimize any backlash on the Colombian government and military by blaming the event on unnamed “foreign agitators.”   Survivors gave their version of events publicly, including strike leader Raul Mahecha, who spoke publicly at events throughout South America. However, the event would not truly come to light on the global stage until the publication of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Though fictional and fantastical in many respects, the novel centers on a strikebreaking massacre that is based on the 1928 bloodbath.   Continuing Concerns A workers’ protest in Austin, Texas in 2022. Michael Minasi photo. Source: Kera News   Though the banana massacre in Columbia occurred almost one hundred years ago, the issues surrounding the climactic event still persist into the twenty-first century. The issues that USTM brought to light regarding workers’ rights are still a matter of concern in many areas of the world to varying degrees. According to the Global Rights Index, there was a record-high level of workers’ rights violations in 2023, with 77% of countries preventing workers from union involvement. Violent attacks against protesting workers still take place while rights groups continue to make efforts to improve conditions globally.   United Fruit continued to advertise the health benefits of the banana. In 1941, “Nutritive and Therapeutic Values of the Banana” was published by United Fruit. Source: New York Academy of Medicine Center for History   United Fruit Company, now known as Chiquita, was never punished for its role in the massacre and continued to operate on Colombian soil. The massacre would not be the last time the company encouraged Colombian violence in the name of profits.   In 2007, Chiquita Bananas pleaded guilty in a court of law to charges of supporting terrorism. These charges were brought upon the discovery that the company was making long-term payments to the United Self-Defense Forces, also known as the AUC, in Colombia. The AUC is a right-wing paramilitary group that is known to be responsible for many violent attacks on human rights, including murders, displacement, and threats and received over 1.7 million dollars from Chiquita between 1997 and 2004.   A sixteen-year-old boy harvests bananas in Costa Rica in 2019. Madison Stewart photo. Source: Pulitzer Center   However, these crimes are largely glossed over or simply unknown to the global public, which continues to help the banana maintain its place as the most popular fruit in the world. One hundred billion bananas are eaten globally each year, produced on backyard farms and corporate plantations alike, and ten billion of those are Chiquita bananas.   The company’s website currently touts its environmental protection actions, involvement in causes such as breast cancer awareness, and sustainability initiatives. Are these the actions of a company that has reformed itself, or one that should be finally held accountable by the public for its actions?   Reading List:   Koeppel, D. (2008). Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. Penguin Group.

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