‘Mockingbird’ hero seen in new light

In 2003, the American Film Institute made public a list of the most memorable heroes and villains in movie-dom.

As the countdown unfolded as part of a TV special, highlights included actors’ portrayals of both real-life figures of courage and fictitious adventurers.

Yet some viewers might have wondered: Where is Atticus Finch?

Played by Gregory Peck in the 1962 screen adaptation of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Finch rebelled against his time and place (1930s Alabama) as the defense attorney for an African-American man who faces a false charge of rape.

As it turned out, Finch landed at the top of the heroes’ list: No. 1.

In a well-researched new book, however, Emory University professor Joseph Crespino argues that there were more depths to Finch — and the actual figure upon which he was drawn, Lee’s father, lawyer and newspaper editor A.C. Lee — than at first glance.

Crespino carefully examines the life and writings of A.C. Lee as well as the 2015 release of Harper Lee’s long-unread “Go Set a Watchman.” That book, put to paper before “Mockingbird,” presents a flawed Finch whose own unlikely racial prejudice is challenged by his adult daughter, Jean Louise.

Scrutinizing A.C. Lee through his contributions to his paper, The Monroe Journal, Crespino writes that “many of the attributes commonly associated with the Atticus Finch of ‘Mockingbird’” are apparent, including “integrity, idealism and seriousness of purpose.” • “Atticus Finch: The Biography” (Basic, 272 pages, $28) by Joseph Crespino

On the other hand, some editorials reveal severe limitations in A.C. Lee’s outlook, including his endorsement of Senate candidate James Thomas Heflin — described by Crespino as, “until George Wallace came along ..., perhaps the most notorious bigot in Alabama politics” and whom Lee previously opposed — and his defense of the state’s poll tax.

Crespino’s verdict is damning, but equally surprising is the fact that Harper Lee recognized her father’s faults.

Harper Lee seemingly made front and center her father’s biases in “Go Set a Watchman,” which, Crespino writes, “turns when Jean Louise discovers a racist, right-wing book among (Atticus’) reading materials.”

When “Watchman” didn’t pique the interest of publishers, the author dreamed up “Mockingbird,” in which Atticus’ strengths are emphasized.

In nimbly navigating Harper Lee’s divergent portrayals of Atticus Finch — and the complex contradictions of A.C. Lee — Crespino will send many readers back to her novels in search of further understanding.