J.K. Rowling

Before J. K. Rowling, there was R. L. Stine, the author whose entire slasher oeuvre we consumed during our “fat years” in the front of the school bus in the late ’80s, and tonight he reads scary stories at the 92nd Street Y to get us in the mood for Halloween, when we’ll all dress up as slutty Sarah Palins and Ashley Alexandra Duprés. … Ah, would that we could just sail away like the folks at Hudson River Community Sailing, which offers “nautical programming” to New Yorkers brave enough to risk contact with the murky waters surrounding our isle. “I came from a long lineage of sailors,” said Bill Bahen, the skipper in charge of this nostalgic enterprise.  read more »

Nerd alert! J.K. Rowling is releasing a book of wizard fairy tales, called The Tales of Beedle the Bard, for her reading charity.

The book will be published Dec. 4 by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in America. Amazon also plans a leather-bound collectors' edition that will sell for $100.

The book, written and illustrated by Ms. Rowling, is a collection of five wizard tales referred to in her Harry Potter series, according to the Associated Press. Her charity, Children's High Level Group, hopes to raise $8 million through sales.  read more »

Is it lame to still geek out whenever J.K. Rowling makes a public appearance? It probably is but, no matter, we're going to update you about her Harvard Commencement speech anyway. She was the university's fifth female Commencement speaker since 1950. At the June 5 ceremony talked about her greatest challenges and achievements: failure and imagination. Aw!  read more »

While J.K. Rowling is fighting for the integrity of her Harry Potter series in a New York court, ABC is scheming to make a documentary about the Potter author's very private life. Reuters reports that 20/20 will air the profile some time in November and will include several interviews, scenes from the final Harry Potter book tour, and a peek at the locations that inspired her characters.  read more »

Well, maybe. Brit JK Rowling, the Harry Potter lady, and Warner Bros, the studio behind the movie versions, are suing New York publisher RDR Books over an encyclopedia devoted to the boy wizard and other characters from the series. A witness list needs to be handed to the judge for the New York Federal District court case by April 4 and Ms. Rowling is expected to be on it, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. A lawyer for RDR Books said Rowling was expected to appear to give evidence in the case. "We asked for her and they said they would provide her," said lawyer David Hammer. The case is set for hearings starting April 14, so we're guessing the Harry Potter nerds will start setting up tents and lawn chairs to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Ms. Rowling some time next week. Bring your Gryffindor scarfs, kids, it's still chilly out there! More details about the case after the jump.  read more »

Harvard announced today that J. K. Rowling will deliver the keynote address at this year's commencement ceremony, which will be held on June 5th. As is customary, the Harry Potter author will receive an honorary degree from the university.

Newly minted Harvard president Drew Faust issued a statement this morning in which she praised Ms. Rowling for getting kids to read.

"Perhaps no one in our time has done more than J. K. Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading," she is quoted as saying in the announcement.

The word from the college, meanwhile, is that some Harvard students are not exactly thrilled at the news, and disappointed that the university chose someone involved in the production of fairy tales rather a world leader or politician.

"[Faust] thinks this is a game?" one student complained. "It's a damn election year! You can't get someone at all related to that shit?"

Former Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True went on trial in Athens yesterday on charges she conspired over a decade ago to acquire for the museum an ancient gold funerary wreath.

After the Battle of Brooklyn: East River Incognita II "further examines [artist Duke Riley's] fascination with and exploration of maritime history and events around the waterways of New York City.  read more »

J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. filed a lawsuit at Manhattan federal court today over a book billed as an unofficial encyclopedic companion to the Harry Potter book series, according to Reuters. They claim the book infringes copyright and attempts to cash in on the successful series.  read more »

Variety reports out an interesting take on the record-breaking sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

While the book and movie businesses are structured very differently, dollars the franchise generated domestically this weekend for its creator and distributor surpass what a studio might take in for a hit tentpole. Publishers typically sell books to wholesalers and retailers for a 40%-45% discount off the retail price, which means the Saturday sales alone could generate more than $150 million in receipts for Scholastic and Rowling.

8.3 million copies of the book sold in the first 24 hours after its midnight release July 21. When you consider that almost all of the marketing and advertising costs are borne by the retailers, that's a lot of dosh.  read more »

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• Denzel Washington could be moving closer to God: The actor is eyeing a $5.96 million apartment in the Novare--a church-to-condo conversion on West 4th Street. Also, J.K. Rowling is dropping $150,000 on her summer home in the Hamptons. (New York Post)
• The luxurious home of the late Evelyn Annenberg Jaffe Hall, at tony 640 Park, is now on the market for $27.5 million. Coincidentally, the co-op apartment in 740 Park that housed her late sister, Enid Annenberg Haupt, is asking $27.5 million--and reportedly now under contract. (New York Times)
• Six Feet Under's Jeremy Sisto is heading to Hell's Kitchen, grabbing a $4,000 a month pad. In the past year, several actors doing more work on Broadway--like Rosie O'Donnell and Christian Slater--have purchased apartments near the theater district. (New York)