Across the Pond
Posted on May 30, 2021
Her net worth is estimated to be around $1 billion U.S. In 2004, Forbes magazine declared her the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire primarily through book writing. I am sure you can guess who I am referencing. Of course, none other than the award winning British author, philanthropist, film producer, television producer, and screenwriter, J.K. Rowling.
Of course the Harry Potter series is amazing. Of course J.K. Rowling is one of the most beloved authors ever. But what I found fascinating was the Canadian connection to Harry Potter.
Rowling named only one character in Harry Potter after a real person, a nine year old from Toronto named Natalie McDonald. The real-life Natalie McDonald was suffering from leukemia. Before she died, a family friend contacted Rowling’s publisher to tell the author about Natalie and how much she loved the Harry Potter books. After failing to reach the family on the phone, Rowling wrote Natalie an email, but it reached the family a day after she died. Rowling and Natalie’s mother Valerie became friends, and eventually met.
In October 2000, when Rowling was in Toronto, she was interviewed by Shelagh Rogers and 11-year-old Lauren McCormick. Lauren won a contest to interview the Harry Potter author. Listen to their conversation in the audio player – link above.
When Rowling was about eight years old, her father was offered the opportunity to work in Canada for a year. “For a moment we really thought we were coming to live in Canada and we were very excited,” she told CBC. “But it fell through. We were very disappointed.”
In 2000, Rowling read to more than 20,000 people at Toronto’s Skydome. The event set a Guinness World Record for the largest audience at a book reading.
And lastly, the Harry Potter series has sold over 11 million copies in Canada.
It would seem that the magic of Harry Potter made its way across the pond and took hold in a country with small numbers but a big heart. We would like to think that magic, the magic of a story, is live and well here in Canada. And we hope to see many more Canadian authors writing alongside us in the future.
1 thought on “Across the Pond”
Tasha
–She is an Icon and what an imagination! My boys have yet to dive into her tales but I am sure it is soon to come as my middle son is such an avid reader. What a beautiful tribute to Natalie!