by Pam North

Striking gold isn't just a Gilpin County phenomenon.   The British author of the Harry Potter books has  "literally" done just that.

The author, J.K. Rowling, isn't exactly an overnight success.  She wrote her first book, called "Rabbit" when she was just six years old, and never stopped scribbling after that.  She graduated from Exeter University and pursued a teaching career before finding herself unemployed and on public assistance, and she wrote her first Harry Potter novel while hanging out in an Edinburg coffee shop while her infant daughter slept beside her in a stroller.  If desperation was her Muse, it saw that she profited well from her experience.  She is now the second-richest woman in Great Britain.  Over 116 million copies of her four novels in the Harry Potter series(three more are yet to come) have sold, and have been translated into forty-seven languages and published in eleven countries.  The first three books have occupied the top three spots on the New York Times hardback fiction best-seller list, and she has received the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year award, been bestowed with the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire, receiving the medal from Prince Charles as recognition for service to children's literature.  While she has been credited with motivating children to read, grown-ups also have been caught enjoying her novels, and one British publisher even brought out a Harry Potter novel with a discreet  back-and-white cover so that  adults could read Harry Potter without embarrassment in public places.  

For those not yet familiar with Harry Potter, he is the young hero of Rowling's novels.  As an infant he was sent to live with relatives, the Dursley family (all despicable and unkind) when his parents were killed by the evil wizard, Voldemort.  After eleven years of miserable existence at the Dursley residence, Harry has an opportunity to go to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and so the magical adventures begin, all heading toward future confrontations with Voldemort.   Enter a diverse range of characters, good and malevolent, human and animal, all played against a tapestry of medieval buildings and fantasy situations that create a drama to stretch the imagination and satisfy the desire for a good, fun read.  These books are classics that rival the Oz books of yesteryear.

The book that started it all, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has now achieved movie status, opening in 7000 theaters last Friday.   Lines were long and children were ecstatic (a few happy adults were spotted, too), and the  $125-million production has brought to life all the wonder and dimension that until now has existed only in each individual's imagination.  An ambitious undertaking, the film epic has succeeded admirably, with only minor flaws.  Chris Columbus, the film's director, had resolved to be as faithful to the book as possible,  consulting with Rowling to achieve that goal, and using an all-British cast as she requested.   Rowling herself was pleased with the result.  The ageless battle between good and evil comes vibrantly alive, and while the evil seems real and dangerous, there is an underlying conviction that good will triumph, something we all need to believe.

The last couple of months have been a difficult time in America, and while the Harry Potter experience isn't serious fare, a little escapism is good sometimes, so get thee to a theater to enjoy this captivating film - no matter how old you think you are.
 
 
 

Note:  Guerin and Laura........

Photos to accompany article can be found at:

1.        http://scholastic.com/harrypotter/screensaver

2.        http://www.hpgalleries.com
           (photo at left mid-way down)

3.        http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/home_noflash.asp

The first and third are reminiscent of the book illustrations; the second is from the movie.
Pick whatever you would prefer.