On a hot Sunday afternoon, a flock of visitors gathered before [Margaret Mitchell’s] tombstone in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery to observe the 75th anniversary of “Gone With the Wind.”

“Ladies and gentleman, we have a special guest today,” a costumed guide announced.
With that, a smiling brunette in a flower-print dress wandered from behind the bushes. “It gives me the humbles to see so much fuss over my little ole book,” she said in a ripe Southern accent.

A small desk with an antique typewriter waited behind her. At a nearby table, people poured champagne so the celebrators could raise a flute in her memory. The woman playing Mitchell, cemetery employee Sally Smith, said a few more words and then posed for pictures, all the while standing directly atop the author’s grave.

It’s terrible, isn’t it?” she joked a few minutes later, stepping out of character. “Margaret Mitchell did value her privacy. I’m not sure she would approve.”