JEB LADOUCEUR TO APPEAR AT S. HUNTINGTON AUTHOR FAIR
His book ‘The Ghostwriters’ probes the lives of Truman Capote & Harper Lee
Smithtown’s novelist, Jeb Ladouceur, will appear at the South Huntington Public Library’s Book Fair on Saturday, April 9th, from 1:00 until 3:00 PM. The prize-winning author of eleven spellbinders, will be speaking about and signing copies of his newest offering, ‘The Ghostwriters,’ a work of literary fiction that explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee (recognized writer of ‘TO KILL A MOOCKINGBIRD’) and Truman Capote (accredited author of the classic ‘IN COLD BLOOD’).
Smithtown writer, Jeb Ladouceur, is bringing his new novel,
‘The Ghostwriters’ to the South Huntington Library Author Fair
The terms ‘recognized’ and ‘accredited’ are frequently used by Ladouceur to define the famed writers because he is not convinced they are really the authors of the two widely renowned novels commonly attributed to them.
“I’ve long suspected something about these two artists,” says the 50-year Smithtown resident. “It’s seems to me that Lee and Capote are completely miscast as creators of their respective magnum opuses.”
Explaining his position, Ladouceur points out, “On the one hand … Harper’s ‘TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,’ is essentially a tender story about coming of age in the Deep South, and it appears inconsistent with author Lee’s rowdy image and reputation as the impudent, cigarette-smoking, pre-teen smart aleck that we know her to have been.”
The local novelist goes on to state, “On the other hand … Truman’s acclaimed masterpiece, graphically titled, ‘IN COLD BLOOD,’ and so vicious in its descriptions of murder in a Kansas farmhouse, hardly seems the work of one so dainty, and delicately inclined by his very nature.”
Two of the best-selling novels in the history of literature.
“But who really authored which?” asks Ladouceur
But those differences aside, Jeb Ladouceur states that it was an even more telling phenomenon that solidified his suspicions in the summer of last year.
When the original manuscript of a ‘lost’ Harper Lee novel, ‘GO SET A WATCHMAN,’ exploded on the literary scene … destined to become the widest selling book of 2015 … Ladouceur finally found the touchstone needed to demonstrate conclusively that Harper Lee could not, in fact, have written both ‘Mockingbird’ and ‘Watchman’ … the quality of the works is miles apart … and by extension, two other conclusions suggested themselves.”
Ladouceur states unequivocally, “The first was that Lee’s childhood friend and lifelong associate, Truman Capote, was the superior writer most likely to have actually penned ‘Mockingbird’ … and the second deduction was that the tough, profane, fiercely scrappy Harper Lee probably returned the favor by writing ‘In Cold Blood,’ a novel much more her cup of tea than Capote’s.”
Nelle Harper Lee & Truman Capote, childhood friends and former neighbors. But could any two authors be less alike?
‘The Ghostwriters’ author is quick to acknowledge certain similarities between Lee and Capote, noting that they:
- are basically the same age (though Truman died in 1984 at the age of 59)
- were schoolmates and neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama (where both showed an interest in creative writing)
- and both left their southern roots to become contemporary writers in New York City (Capote having achieved celebrity status well before his childhood tomboy friend, Harper).
But age, origin, and ultimate worldwide fame pretty much comprise the extent of the similarity between these two intriguing authors, says Ladouceur … “Although it must be said that both of them ultimately became unfortunate caricatures of themselves.”
After 50 years, is this really a
‘second’ Harper Lee bestseller?
Truman was not only openly gay … he was aggressively, flamboyantly, notoriously so … flaunting his lifestyle in a non-stop profusion of ‘in-your-face’ pseudo-feminine performances whenever and wherever he could arrange to parade them … primarily on network television.
Conversely, Harper Lee … once little Truman’s fierce, tough-as-nails protector in grade school, was to become a lifelong social recluse, refusing invitations to show her face in public. She even said that upon her demise, she wished to be buried before people knew she’d died.
In this regard no two artists could have been less alike. Truman craved the spotlight, while the Pulitzer-winning Harper ironically detested it. That is the strange paradox which lies at the heart of Ladouceur’s latest provocative novel.
At 330 pages, ‘THE GHOSTWRITERS’ is available online wherever books are sold. It will be specially priced at $18. at the April 9th South Huntington Library Book Fair (145 Pidgeon Hill Road), and thru April 30 on the local author’s website, jebsbooks.com
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 1:18PM 
Stephen RuthSuffolk County Police have arrested a Centereach man for damaging 19 red light cameras throughout Suffolk County.;)
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