J.K Rowling

J.K. Rowling

Even though Joanne Rowling was a single and divorced mother, she still found the time to write the magical adventures of “Harry Potter”. Joanne Rowling, a British author has won numerous awards, sold more than 400 million copies and has been the basis for a well known series of films. She is also just as famous for her personal life story of how she overcame poverty and became one of the richest women in Britain. Joanne Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling. She has one sister that was born when she was 23 months old. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories that she would read to her sister. One of the first stories she wrote was called “Rabbit” about a rabbit that got the measles and was visited by his friends. In 1992 she married a Portuguese television journalist named Jorge Arantes, while she was teaching English as a foreign language. They had one child named Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes. Jessica was born on July 27, 1993 in Portugal. Unfortunately, they separated in November of 1993. During this time Rowling became ill with depression and thoughts about suicide. It was during this time that she came up with the creatures that are featured in the series “Harry Potter”. Rowling continued to struggle with her personal life and being a single parent. Rowling attended St Michael’s Primary School when she was very young. This school was founded almost 200 years ago by a famous abolitionist, William Wilberforce. In her later years she attended Wyedean School and College. After the birth of her daughter Jessica and separation from her husband, Rowling needed a certificate to teach in Scotland. The degree she required was a post graduate certificate of education (PGCE). She began her studies for this certificate after her first novel and surviving welfare. While Rowling today is a famous British author she is also known for her rags to riches personal story. She is the 12th richest woman in Britain today. She got the idea about the character Harry Potter while on train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. She even went so far while writing her series to capture her notes on napkins while in pubs and café’s. She was rejected many times before she could get a publisher to accept it. Bloomsbury Children’s Books accepted her manuscript in 1996. It is after she was accepted that she took the pen name of J.K. Rowling. This was done to help ensure a male audience would still embrace the books. Because of her personal struggles after being on welfare, Rowling has taken special interests in helping others. She is now the president of the Charity, One Parent Families. Rowling has also collaborated with Sarah Brown, wife of the prime minister to write a book to help in funding this charity. She continues to support many organizations that help those in need and will continue to do so. Rowling feels it is everyone’s moral responsibility to give back to those who are less fortunate especially when she has so much to be thankful for. The Harry Potter series has been extremely successful and has won many awards. There are a total of 7 books today, with films that have been made after most of them thus far. A total of 400 million copies have been sold and translated in to multiple languages. While the last book of the Harry Potter series has been written, this will not be the end of J.K. Rowling. She will continue to write and live her life with her husband that she married on December 26, 2001.