Joanne Jo Rowling, Obe , better known as J. Rowling , is a British writer well known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter works have gained worldwide attention, won multiple prizes, sold more than 400 million copies and been the basis for a popular series of movies, in which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts as well as maintaining creative control by serving as a producer on the final instalment.
Although she writes under the pen name "J. K. Rowling", pronounced like rolling (IPA ˈroʊlɪŋ), her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply "Joanne Rowling". Fearing that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling.
(J.K. Rowling photo #2)
Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her rags to riches life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of March 2011 when its latest world billionaires list was released, Forbes estimated Rowling's net worth to be Us$1 billion. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at ¼560 million , ranking her as the twelfth richest woman in the United Kingdom. Forbes ranked Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007, and Time magazine called her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.
(J.K. Rowling photo #3)
In October 2010, J. Rowling was called 'most Influential Woman in Britain' by leading magazine editors. She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and Lumos.
J.K. Rowling
