Kathryn Stockett
| Kathryn Stockett | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969 Jackson, Mississippi, USA |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama |
| Genres | Adult fiction |
| Notable work(s) | The Help |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced |
| Children | 1 |
Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, The Help, which is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s.
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[edit] Career
The Help is Stockett's début novel. She previously worked in magazine publishing while living in New York City.[1] It took her five years to complete the book, which was rejected by 60 literary agents before agent Susan Ramer agreed to represent Stockett.[1][2][dead link] The Help has since been published in 35 countries and three languages.[3] As of August 2011, it has sold five million copies and has spent more than 100 weeks on the The New York Times Best Seller list.[4][5] The Help climbed best seller charts a few months after it was released, eventually selling 5 million copies as of August 2011.[6][7]
[edit] The Movie
Although legally, Kathryn was not involved with the movie at all, she had the great fortune of having one of her lifetime friends direct the movie. Tate Taylor directed the movie and Kathryn was able to be there for the filming process as Tate brought her words to the screen. Tate and Kathryn said that their goal was to bring the truth about what life was like in the South growing up because many books and films were not capturing. They really wanted to show the good and the bad from this time period.
[edit] The South
Tate Taylor and Kathryn Stockett grew up together in Jackson, Mississippi. Kathryn says that she was inspired to write the novel, when at the age of thirty, she wondered what her household maid growing up, must have been thinking.
[edit] Next Book
Stockett anounced in 2010 that she is working on another book about women during the Great Depression. The book will surround the lives of these women and how they interact with each other, and the prejudice that surrounds them in their town of Oxford, Mississippi. She wanted to write about a subject that interested her; women's rights. Nothing has been said about what the title of this book will be, nor when the book will be released. Stockett admits that she likes to take her time when writing. In an interview with Teresa Weaver, she told Atlanta Magazine, "The first one took me five years, so I wouldn’t be expecting anything anytime soon. I’m slow. And I’m lazy."
Kathryn Stockett said in the same interview, that she was not done with the story, but that she would not write a sequel to the The Help. She said that, if anything, she would write a prequel to go along with the story.
[edit] Personal
Stockett is originally from Jackson, Mississippi. Her childhood friend was actor and director Tate Taylor. Kathryn, her older sister, Susan, and her older brother, Rob, were children of Robert Stockett, a local hotelier and general contractor. Kathryn, Rob, and Susan spent their time after Robert Jr.'s divorce from their mother in various places about Jackson, often living in the then-successful Coliseum Ramada Inn Fairgrounds, where their father held court in what was then downtown Jackson's lunchtime place to be and be seen for local businessmen (in the 1970s and 1980s.) This hotel was not far from "Stockett Stables" which preceded the hotel. The "Stables" was a place of leisure for the members of Stockett Riding Club. Susan, Rob, and Kathryn graduated from Jackson's most exclusive private all-white (at the time) school, Jackson Preparatory School. Robert Stockett (Kathryn's father) lost most of his businesses in the 1990s through bad business deals and walked away owing many local businesses money, though he offered via letter a "discount" on properties he was developing in Madison County (north of Jackson) to somewhat lessen those losses.
Until 2001, Stockett lived in New York City, where she worked in publishing. She lives in Atlanta and has a daughter from a previous marriage.[7][8] She recently told the Telegraph in London that an Atlanta-based reporter, "wrote a really s----- article about me. Now I am sort of dating him. I want to confront my demons – and I sometimes sleep with them, I guess." [9]
Reflective of her first novel, Stockett was raised by an African American domestic worker in lieu of an absentee mother.[10][11]
A lawsuit was filed in a Mississippi court by Abilene Cooper, a maid who used to work for Stockett's brother. It claimed that Stockett used her likeness in the book.[12] A Hinds County, Mississippi judge threw the case out of court, citing the statute of limitations.[13] Stockett denies her claim of stealing her likeness, and says she only met her briefly.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Calkin, Jessamy (July 16, 2009). "The maid's tale: Kathryn Stockett examines slavery and racism in America's Deep South". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5844739/The-maids-tale-Kathryn-Stockett-examines-slavery-and-racism-in-Americas-Deep-South.html. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
- ^ "Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' Turned Down 59 Times Before Becoming a Best Seller". More Magazine. http://shine.yahoo.com/event/poweryourfuture/kathryn-stocketts-the-help-turned-down-60-times-before-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/.
- ^ Kehe, Marjorie (May 14, 2010). "With book sales still strong, 'The Help' will begin filming". Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2010/0514/With-book-sales-still-strong-The-Help-will-begin-filming. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ Williams, Wyatt. "Kathryn Stockett: Life in the belle jar". Creative Loafing Atlanta. http://clatl.com/atlanta/kathryn-stockett-life-in-the-belle-jar/Content?oid=3795185. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ D'Souza, Karen. "'The Help' is poised to become chick flick of the summer". San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/movies-dvd/ci_18602288. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ Memmott, Carol (July 31, 2009). "Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' is the hot book this summer". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-07-29-the-help_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
- ^ a b Williams, Wyatt (4 August 2011). "Kathryn Stockett: Life in the belle jar". Creative Loafing. http://clatl.com/gyrobase/kathryn-stockett-life-in-the-belle-jar/Content?oid=3795185&showFullText=true. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Calkin, Jessamy (July 16, 2009). "The maid's tale: Kathryn Stockett examines slavery and racism in America's Deep South". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5844739/The-maids-tale-Kathryn-Stockett-examines-slavery-and-racism-in-Americas-Deep-South.html. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
- ^ Fox, Genevieve (November 7, 2011). "Kathryn Stockett: ‘I have always broken the rules’". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookclub/8874552/Kathryn-Stockett-I-have-always-broken-the-rules.html. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (February 18, 2009). "Racial Insults and Quiet Bravery in 1960s Mississippi". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/books/19masl.html. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
- ^ Stockett, Kathryn (18 July 2009). "This Life: Kathryn Stockett on her childhood in the Deep South". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1199603/This-Life-Kathryn-Stockett-childhood-Deep-South.html. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Churcher, Sharon (4 September 2011). "Her family hired me as a maid for 12 years but then she stole my life and made it a Disney movie". The Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2033369/Her-family-hired-maid-12-years-stole-life-Disney-movie.html. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ a b Mitchell, Jerry. "'The Help' lawsuit tossed out". The Clarion Ledger. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110817/NEWS/108170333/-Help-lawsuit-tossed-out. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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