Biographic - Sunday July 3, 2011 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

When Joanne Rowling returned home to Britain from Portugal in 1994 following the end of her marriage, she knew that she would have that she would have to find a full-time job in order to support herself and her baby daughter... but she resolved to finish a long-standing project first. For years she had been working on an idea for a children's book about an orphaned boy wizard and his adventures at a magical school. Determinized to make herself into a period of almost frenzied activity. Working on her manuscript at every opportunity. The gamble paid off. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was a sensation. Launching the greatest success story in publishing history! Joanne Rowling was born on July 31, 1965, in the English town of chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire. By 1994, she was a single mother living on state benefits in Edinburgh, Scotland. On the verge of taking a full-time teaching post, she raced to complete the book on which she had been working for some years. Joanne spent her days scribbling away in a local cafe, and at home, she would write long into the night, until finally, the book was finished. The second literary agent she contacted agreed to present her, and her book proposal was soon being the rounds of publishers. One year later, after many rejections, her book was accepted. Concerned that young boys might be reluctant to read books written by a woman, the publishers requested that Jo adopt initials rather than use her first name- and so J.K. Rowling was born. The publishers need not have worried. When it appeared in 1997, "Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone" published in the U.S. as "Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone" was a sensation with boys and girls and legions of adults all around the world. By the time the fourth book in the series was published in 2000, Jo Rowling was a multimillionaire and one of the most successful authors in history. In 2001, the first Harry Potter movie hit screens, and one of the biggest movie franchises of all time was launched. The books and movie adaptations have brought Jo the devotion of millions of readers and earned her incredible wealth- she is the first person to become a billionaire through writing, and the Harry Potter "brand" is reputed to be worth $7 billion. She has been showered with honors, ranging from numerous literary awards to an order of the British Empire from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and the Legion D'Honneur from France. She is also a renowned philanthropist and a generous supporter of many charitable causes.

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