Atlanta is well known as the "birthplace" for the book called Gone with the Wind. If the author, Margaret Mitchell, had her way, it would never have been published.
The fiesty 4'11 Margaret Mitchell wrote the book as a pet project in 1926 as she was recovering from a car accident in which her ankle was injured. It wasn't something she intended to share with anyone. It was only after a friend twisted her arm to show it to a book publisher during his visit to Atlanta that she revealed it. She had written the book with the last chapter first, and had not completed the manuscript when she finally agreed to show it to him. The book publisher liked what he saw, and took the incomplete and only copy of the manuscript back with him to New York.
The book publisher wanted Margaret to not only complete the manuscript, but wanted her to change the main character's name, he didn't like the name Pansy! Can you imagine Vivien Leigh being called Pansy?? Margaret agreed to change the name to Scarlett. A more fitting name for a Southern Belle.
The rest of course is history. The book became an immediate best seller and made into a movie starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Many visitors come to Atlanta now thinking that there is an actual mansion from the book. The real mansion from the movie was just a set made in Hollywood, but you can see the real doorway from the mansion movie set at the Margaret Mitchell Museum during your visit.
The book and movie made Margaret Mitchell very wealthy. She was very generous with this money to the local charities in Atlanta. Margaret Mitchell also secretly donated large sums of money to the Moorehouse College for the education of black students getting their medical degrees. This was a social taboo during this generation.
This was Margaret Mitchell's only published book. She was under a lot of pressure to do a sequel to the book, but refused. Her husband was ill, and he was her priority.
Sadly, Margaret Mitchell was killed by an off-duty, drunk cab driver on August 11, 1949 here in Atlanta while crossing the street.
I highly recommend a tour to the Margaret Mitchell House here in Atlanta. A great bonus with your Atlanta City Pass. Here's in the link to the Margaret Mitchell House: http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/about/margaret-mitchell
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