J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling has followed a path as labyrinthine as the catacombs beneath Hogwarts to reach her current status as one of the world’s premier authors. Growing up near Bristol, England, J.K. Rowling was born Joanne Rowling July 31, 1965. She bore no middle initial until a book publisher suggested the change as a way to bolster her book’s popularity. There are conflicting accounts as to where the “K” came from, but her name as it stands now is on the minds of millions of fans hungrily reading their way through the Harry Potter books and watching the accompanying films.

Success was by no means guaranteed for J.K. Rowling, who famously endured some months of poverty while completing the book she believed would lead her to the life she had always wanted. Her lifelong dream had been to become a writer, and as a child she possessed a vivid imagination that drove her to engage in madcap theatrics with her sister, Di.

This predilection for fantasy worlds would serve her well as she wove the engrossing, always believable alternate universe that Harry Potter and his wizard friends occupy alongside the unknowing “muggles” (ordinary people with no knowledge of magic or the existence of wizards).

Her exposure to languages besides English (she studied French in college and lived in Portugal for some time) may account for her ability to effortlessly create plausible sounding names of spells and characters—names that offer readers hints as to their meaning. Her time in Portugal also resulted in a brief marriage and the birth of her first child.

It was upon her return to England that Harry Potter was born, and with it a character franchise that has beaten the bible for some publishing records. Her books have also drawn the scorn of various religious fanatics, who criticize the presence of sorcery, but most people recognize her books as promoting important values such as scholarship, friendship and personal courage.