“The Help” author Kathryn Stockett was a welcome last-minute addition to the guests at the Literacy Partners gala on Monday night. Stockett arrived to support her longtime friend Tate Taylor, the screenwriter and director of the film “The Help.” Taylor picked up the Face of Literacy Award and described how his own childhood was shaped by housekeeper Carol Lee, “whose wisdom and love was so instilled in me that when I read what Kathryn had written, I had to share it with the world.” The Jazz at Lincoln Center event, which featured readings from Bill Maher, Sally Bedell Smith and Jeffrey Toobin, raised more than $1 million to help fight adult illiteracy.