J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling MindmeisterJordan Tolton

I chose J.K. Rowling because I love her books and find her resilience inspiring. The book I read about J.K. was a Bloomsbury biography. The biography book I read was one hundred and four pages long. This book covers the timeline between J.K. being born (1965) to the day she published the last Harry Potter book (2007). The book I read was published in 2012. A little known fact: J.K.'s mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when J.K. was only fifteen years old. Also as a child people around her affectionately called her Joe. Something that later in life was questioned by her editor as a name that should be avoided for her pen name, as it may not resonate with the targeted readers. An option suggested by her editor was to use her initials, but she did not have a middle name, so she made up one: Kathleen.

She was born in a small commuter town in Yate, England. At the age of nine, she and her family relocated to the small village of Tutshill. At the age of twenty five, her mother’s illness took a turn for the worse, leaving her motherless, with her and her sister Diana under the care of her father, Peter. Her mother’s death left her feeling wounded. Later in life this feeling resurfaced, when she was not able to share her success with her mother.

J.K. Rowling PortraitJordan Tolton

Early on in life, J.K. showed signs of strong character and a love for storytelling. While at Wyedean Comprehensive School, she was known as a hero for standing up to one of the school bullies. Her love of literature brought her to the University of Exeter where she studied French, Latin and Greek, thinking it could also lead to a fulfilling career after her studies. Her understanding of the French language gave her the opportunity to work as a teacher’s aid for a year in Paris, a period of her life she fondly remembers.

Her first marriage was short lived due to an abusive relationship and her desire to not raise her young daughter in that kind of environment. She got her idea of Harry Potter on the train going to Manchester, and that is how J.K. became a successful author. J.K. Rowling is a very strong, resilient and giving person, which helped her in her life because when she left her husband and began writing Harry Potter, she had very little. Some days she would starve because she only had the money welfare was giving her, and she had to feed her daughter. But she never gave up on her passion, even when people told she should get a real job. J.K. also gave a lot of the money that she earned from Harry Potter to homeless shelters and other charities. J.K. has quite the temper, so one day as a child J.K. got into a huge fight with her sister and threw a battery at her. It hit her sister right above her eyebrow, which to this day she still has a scar from. She also later said in an interview that she had never seen her mom so angry. In elementary school, J.K. 's friends would gather around her to listen to her stories. These are just a few awards that J.K. has collected from writing the Harry Potter books: Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Book, Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Glamour Award for Writer, and many more. As you can see, there is a lot, but I think she deserved them all.

J.K. Rowling action pictureJordan Tolton

When I first started researching J.K., I really did not know if I would be able to use her as my hero because she is basically a billionaire, so it really surprised me when I found out how much J.K. went through to get where she is now. These are the three questions that I would ask my Hero: “When you began writing Harry Potter, did you think it was going to be as successful as it is now?” ”How much money have you given to charity?” and “What are some of the things you regret doing in your life?” I would not want to be J.K.'s child because I would always have to look my best and would not have a normal play-in-the-mud childhood. I really liked the book I read because of how descriptive it was, and you can really tell how much investigating they did. I learned that J.K. Rowling had to go through a lot to get where she is now. I think that J.K. was under a lot of stress at times but was still able to stay calm, which I could apply to myself because sometimes I get really worked up. I think other people should read this because it really teaches that you can do anything if you put your mind and heart to it. I really loved reading this book and am happy with my choice because of how much I learned about the Harry Potter books and J.K.'s life. I really admire J.K. Rowling and consider her my hero.