Lee biographer Charles Shields

Anticipation is building for the 2010 Big Read, the mammoth reading campaign that this year will focus on Harper Lee’s classic book, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

The six-week event begins Jan. 12 with a 7 p.m. lecture in the Odd Fellows Hall in Enterprise by Charles Shields, author of the first biography ever written about Lee.

The Pulitzer prize-winning Lee stopped giving interviews in 1964.

Shields, a former English teacher, spent four years researching and writing the book.

He interviewed more than 600 of Lee’s neighbors, childhood friends, law school classmates and Kansas residents who became her friends while she was helping Truman Capote research “In Cold Blood” in Kansas.

The resultant book, “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee,” quickly became a best seller and was deemed “one of the best biographies of 2006” by the Christian Science Monitor.

Garrison Keillor of “A Prairie Home Companion” fame recommended the book in a review that promised the book “will not disappoint those who loved the novel and the feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout.”

In addition to the presentation by Shields, the Kick-Off evening, which is free to the public, will offer sign-ups for book discussion groups, a review of the full calendar of events and a free book raffle sponsored by the Non-Violent Communication group. Refreshments will be served.

The popular Monday Night at the Movies series will run most Mondays in January and February. The series will begin on Jan. 11, the night before the Kick-Off, with 7 p.m. screenings of “Capote” at Mutiny Brewing in Joseph, the Fishtrap house in Enterprise and the Wallowa Public Library.

Other films to be shown at the same venues include “Blood in the Face,” “Ghosts of Mississippi” and “Prom Night in Mississippi.”

The short documentary, “Not in Our Town,” about a community’s response to hate crimes, will be shown at Stage One in Enterprise, along with a live presentation by Wayne Inman, who was police chief there at the time.

Finally, the 1962 film version of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall in lead roles, will screen at the OK Theatre.

Big Read events will continue weekly through January and February, culminating in a Southern foods potluck at the Hurricane Creek Grange on Sunday, Feb. 28.

Other presentations will include:

? American Roots music performance on Martin Luther King Day, January 18, by African-American singer and songwriter Reggie Garrett of Seattle.

? Whitman College history professor David Schmitz speaks on “The History of Race Relations in the US,” January 27

? Portland lawyer and activist Steven Goldberg speaks on “Unpopular Legal Causes and Social Change,” February 10

? Former police chief Wayne Inman speaks about “Not In Our Town” – the community response to hate crimes in Billings, Montana, February 22.

? Jo Cowling of La Grande speaks on “Citizen Diplomacy in Iran” at a brown bag luncheon, February 26.

? Mark Mathabane, author of the book “Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa,” speaks, February 28.

? The Mid-Valley Theatre group performance of a stage version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in early March.

Additional activities for The Big Read will include several newspaper guest editorials, three panel discussions led by Wallowa County residents, cooking classes offered by Lynne Sampson focusing on Southern cuisine, stories for children on radio station KWVR at 7 p.m. on Sundays and the Finale.

All three public school systems are participating, with students reading Lee’s book and others.

There will also be a writing contest for school students.

The popular reading groups are back this year as well. “Many people throughout the county have already signed up to participate in discussion groups,” said Fishtrap Director Rick Bombaci. “They’ll read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ then get together for an hour.”

For the full calendar of Big Read events, go to (www.fishtrap.org/tbr_calendar.shtml).

For an annotated list of recommended books, go to (www.fishtrap.org/booklist.shtml) and for films visit (www.fishtrap.org/tbrfilms.shtml)