Harry Potter’s Page :: Feed Your Harry Potter Addiction

JK Rowling Donates £10 million for New MS Clinic

Posted by Dijares On August - 31 - 2010

J.K. Rowling JK Rowling has donated £10 million ($15.5 million) in order to start up a new Multiple Sclerosis (MS) clinic at the University of Edinburgh. The clinic, which will be named The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic after her mother who died from complications of MS, will conduct research for the disease. It will also research other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntingdon’s.

Jo made a statement about the clinic earlier today.

“I have just turned 45, the age at which my mother, Anne, died of complications related to her MS,” Rowling said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I know that she would rather have had her name on this clinic than on any statue, flower garden or commemorative plaque, so this donation is on her behalf, too; and in gratitude for everything she gave me in her far-too-short life.”

“I cannot think of anything more important, or of more lasting value, than to help the university attract world-class minds in the field on neuroregeneration, to build on its long and illustrious history of medical research and, ultimately, to seek a cure for a very Scottish disease,” Rowling said.

Read the entire article here.

J. K. Rowling

Happy Birthday to J.K. Rowling & Harry Potter!

Posted by Lilysowl On July - 30 - 2010

Happy birthday to our favorite author J.K. Rowling who wrote seven books about the boy wizard Harry Potter whose birthday is also July 31. However, J.K. Rowling was born in 1965 at Yate, Gloucestershire in the UK.

Here is what she wrote in the Biography section of her official website about her family of origin:

My mother and father were both Londoners. They met on a train travelling from King’s Cross station to Arbroath in Scotland when they were both eighteen; my father was off to join the Royal Navy, my mother to join the WRNS (the women’s equivalent). My mother said she was cold, my father offered her a half share in his coat, and they got married just over a year later, when they were nineteen.

Both left the navy and moved to the outskirts of Bristol, in the West of England. My mother gave birth to me when she was twenty. I was a rotund baby. The description in ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ of the photographs of ‘what appeared to be a beach ball wearing different coloured bobble hats’ would also apply to the pictures of my early years.

My sister Di arrived a year and eleven months after me. The day of her birth is my earliest memory, or my earliest datable memory, anyway. I distinctly remember playing with a bit of plasticine in the kitchen while my father rushed in and out of the room, hurrying backwards and forwards to my mother, who was giving birth in their bedroom. I know I didn’t invent this memory because I checked the details later with my mother. I also have a vivid mental picture of walking into their bedroom a little while later, hand in hand with my father, and seeing my mother lying in bed in her nightdress next to my beaming sister, who is stark naked with a full head of hair and looks about five years old. Although I clearly pasted together this bizarre false memory out of bits of hearsay when I was a child, it is so vivid that it still comes to mind if I ever think about Di being born.

And speaking of her site, her virtual calendar notes a Happy Birthday to Harry Potter, one of the most favored wizards in literature.

We would like to wish J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter a very happy birthday and hope they have many more to come!

And please feel free to add your birthday wishes to Ms. Rowling (and even Harry) here in the Comments. :) In honor of Harry’s birthday, also tell us which Harry Potter story was your favorite.

J. K. Rowling

Video: JK Rowling Discusses Wizarding World

Posted by Dijares On June - 19 - 2010

Universal Studios, Orlando, have posted a new video from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that includes J.K. Rowling discussing the park, the cast shopping in Zonko’s, drinking butterbeer, the opening ceremonies, the stars on the rides, and more!

J. K. Rowling, Wizarding World

Photos: JKR Meets Prince Charles At Reception

Posted by Lilysowl On June - 8 - 2010

Last Thursday, J.K. Rowling attended a reception given by the Scottish Traditional Skills Training Centre at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photos of her meeting Prince Charles of Wales at the event are now online. Click here to see them in our photo gallery.

Source: UHP

J. K. Rowling

Report: Harry Potter Closer to Becoming Digital?

Posted by Dijares On May - 28 - 2010

J.K. Rowling For those who are fans of reading books on the Kindle, iPad, or other eReaders, you’re possibly in for a treat real soon. Bookseller.com are reporting that Neil Blair, who works for J.K. Rowing’s representatives the Christopher Little Agency (CLA), has stated that they’re ‘actively’ looking at ways to have the Harry Potter books go digital.

In the past, J.K. Rowling has been adamant that the books will not go digital, however, now Mr. Blair states they’re “currently considering all the options and opportunities that this evolving space provides”.

When British publisher Bloombsury’s executive director, Richard Charkin, was asked whether this was accurate, he wouldn’t say, only stating, “That’s between us and CLA.”

If this development comes about, we’ll make sure to let you know.

J. K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling: A Birthday Party For Charity

Posted by Lilysowl On May - 18 - 2010

According to an article posted by Scotsman.com, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling “has urged her army of young readers to stage a worldwide birthday party next month to raise money for disadvantaged children”. International Children’s Day is on June 1 and Ms. Rowling would like to honor that day with a fundraising drive. The proceeds will go to Lumos, her charity that helps disadvantaged children living in institutions across Europe.

The Light A Birthday Candle for Lumos Campaign is requesting people all over the world to host a birthday party to support their mission and to light a candle for the children. Lumos!

A spokesman for the charity said: “Lumos works to put a stop to the systematic institutionalisation of disadvantaged children across Eastern and Central Europe. Year after year, the staff who look after children in these large residential institutions cannot give them the one-to-one attention that they so desperately need.

“Lumos is asking families, friends, employees and community groups to raise vital funds by hosting a ‘birthday’ party, lighting a candle, baking and bringing cakes to work, or by downloading a virtual candle and making a donation via mobile phones.”

Funds from the campaign will be used to help move children out of institutions and into a family caring environment.

Click here for more information about Lumos.

Click here to read the complete article.

J. K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling Sends a Reminder of Single-Parent Life

Posted by Dijares On April - 14 - 2010

J.K. Rowling wrote an article for the Times Online called the Single Mother’s Manifesto. In the article, she reminded her government of what life is like for those who are single parents. Though no longer a single parent herself, she has never forgot what life was like for her and her eldest daughter when all they had was each other and barely enough money to survive. Although she is now a successful author, she continues to be a strong advocate of one parent families. You can read her two-page article here.

J. K. Rowling

Video: JK Rowling Reading at White House

Posted by Dijares On April - 5 - 2010

We told you last week that J.K. Rowling would be reading from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from the White House as part of their annual Easter Egg Roll event.

UPDATE: She read from the portion of the book when Harry and Hagrid are at Ollivander’s and Harry is getting his wand.
She answered a few questions as well. Here are some of them:
Why did fireworks shoot out of the wand? It’s a sign that the wand matches with the person. The wand matching the person is an important feature of the books
Do you think the movie producers did a good job with the motives? Yes, I do. They have to cut somewhere, but on the whole I think they did really great. The actors are very like how I imagined them.
Why did you decide to write about witches and wizards? Like a wand, I felt like it chose me; I had the idea very suddenly. I’ve always been interested in folklore. It was exciting to write something like this.
How did you get the idea? I was on a train traveling from the North of England to London and it just came to me. The idea was that a boy got a letter from a wizard school and he didn’t know he was a wizard.
What is your favorite Harry Potter book? My favorite book is the 7th. But the first has a very important place in my heart.
How doe Harry Potter get his lightening scar? When he was a very young an evil wizard tried to kill Harry but it didn’t work. This makes him very famous and no one knows why he survived.
Why did he survive? That’s the best question, but I can’t really answer it without giving away the end of the books.
How do you make up the characters? They develop as you write them. You may have to go back, because they might change as you write.
Who is your favorite character? It’s impossible to choose. If I set aside Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I’d choose Dumbledore. He’s the character I miss the most. I also love Snape. I wouldn’t like to meet him but I really like him.

Here’s the video:

J. K. Rowling, SS Book, Videos

J.K. Rowling Reading at White House April 5

Posted by Dijares On April - 2 - 2010

J.K. Rowling is to read from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone this Monday, April 5, from the White House as part of the annual Easter Egg Roll event. According to Scholastic’s On Our Minds blog, the event is to air live! Here’s what they have to say:

Rowling will be reading from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at two separate times (1:30pm to 1:45pm ET and again at 2:00pm to 2:15pm ET) on Monday, and will be answering questions from kids. The whole event will be streaming live on whitehouse.gov, and we’ll try to bring you as much info as we can as it happens.

Source: MN

J. K. Rowling

JK Rowling Busy Writing?

Posted by Dijares On March - 2 - 2010

J.K. Rowling Harry Potter author JK Rowling updated her Twitter account with a quick note letting us know that it’s going to be a little difficult for her to update Twitter as she’s too busy writing.