He admits he got confused reading it
to his grandkids
Daily Telegraph (UK) Apr 17, 08 7:59 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The judge in the Harry Potter copyright case gave the man who compiled The Harry Potter Lexicon a one-up against JK Rowling today when he announced that her books were full of gibberish, the Telegraph reports. He said he tried reading one to his grandkids and found it "extremely complex" and suggested that a guidebook would be handy. He won't issue his ruling for several weeks and urged both sides to settle out of court.
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'It's been difficult' being sued by Rowling, encyclopedist says
Associated Press Apr 15, 08 5:21 PM CDT
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The Harry Potter fan whose attempt to put into print his encyclopedic companion brought a lawsuit from author JK Rowling, broke down in tears in a Manhattan court today discussing how much the books mean to him, the AP reports. Steven Vander Ark became distraught when asked how the lawsuit had affected his relationship with the world of Potter fans.
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Author says print version of fan's Lexicon infringes on her plans
New York Times Apr 14, 08 3:21 PM CDT
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Author JK Rowling today slammed a planned print version of a fan's Harry Potter Lexicon as exploiting her ideas, the New York Times reports. “My readership parting with their or their parents’ hard earned cash for this—I think it’s a travesty," Potter's creator complained in court. Rowling praised the original Web incarnation, but objects to publishing a book for profit.
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Equus starts 22-week run in New York
in September
Variety Apr 9, 08 11:35 AM CDT
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will strip down for American audiences on Broadway in a challenging dramatic role that has already wowed Brits. In a major departure from his famous boy wizard role, the 18-year-old stars in the dark psychosexual drama Equus as a troubled adolescent accused of blinding horses. The part calls for a 10-minute nude scene. The play is scheduled to start a 22-week Broadway on September 5, Variety reports.
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Harry Potter author discusses depression during mid-20s
Times (UK) Mar 23, 08 10:01 AM CDT
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Before Harry Potter came along, his creator was broke, recently divorced, depressed, and near suicide, reports the Times of London. JK Rowling was a mom in her mid-20s, living in a cramped apartment paid for by a friend when she sought professional help. “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable,'” she told a student magazine at Edinburgh University.
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Pounding Deathly Hallows will be a two-parter
Los Angeles Times Mar 13, 08 2:45 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Harry Potter series finished after seven books but fans will have an eighth movie to look forward to, the Los Angeles Times reports. Warner Bros. has decided to split the final Potter book, the hefty 784-page Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , into two films to come out in 2010 and 2011. Book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is in the middle of filming now.
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Fan's encyclopedia violates copyright, Hogwarts spirit: author
New York Daily News Feb 29, 08 2:15 PM CST
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As part of her ongoing effort to keep a fan from publishing a Harry Potter encyclopedia, J.K. Rowling is suggesting that the book would violate the wizarding world's moral and ethical standards, reports the New York Daily News . “I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain,” she wrote in a letter to a federal judge.
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Hogwarts creator will get honorary degree
Harvard Crimson Jan 18, 08 4:54 AM CST
(Newser)
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Harvard students will get a Hogwarts send-off at their spring commencement this year, reports the Crimson, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the keynote speaker. "Perhaps no one in our time has done more than JK Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading,” said the university's president.
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As company narrows priorities, shrinking media group is hit hard
New York Times Jan 16, 08 1:58 PM CST
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Another key media honcho is leaving Yahoo, the latest casualty of the company’s effort to narrow focus and scale back peripheral operations. Vince Broady was a senior VP and headed Yahoo’s entertainment division. The New York Times Miguel Helft blogs that his departure is no surprise, given a December reshuffling that left him without a clear role. Dozens of Yahoo execs have left recently.
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Proceeds from the handwritten book will go to charity
Bloomberg Dec 14, 07 3:54 PM CST
(Newser)
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The Internet giant of book sales revealed today that it was behind the purchase of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" in auction yesterday. Amazon paid $3.98 million for the handwritten manuscript -- a record for a children's book and for any modern literary manuscript, not to mention JK Rowling herself, reports Bloomberg . The money will go to a charity co-founded by the "Harry Potter" author.
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Only 7 copies of the Tales of Beedle the Bard exist
Reuters Dec 13, 07 12:15 PM CST
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Sotheby’s figured The Tales of Beedle the Bard would fetch about $100,000 at auction—in retrospect, about 40 times too low. The book, a one-of-a-kind piece of the Harry Potter canon hand-written and illustrated by JK Rowling herself, fetched $3.98 million for charity today, Reuters reports. “Christmas has come early for me,” said an ecstatic Rowling.
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Boy-wizard theme
helps English school turn scores around
Time Nov 22, 07 5:42 AM CST
(Newser)
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The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry it is not, but a suburban Nottingham school is using Harry Potter’s magic to get results. Primary students chose JK Rowling’s enchanted novels as their curriculum theme, a system school officials launched to raise lagging test scores. Subjects are laced with riffs on the books, and activities plunge students into Harry’s supernatural world.
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Radcliffe: 'Broadway is a big, big thing'
BBC Nov 5, 07 7:44 PM CST
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will hit the Great White Way when Equus opens in New York next year. Radcliffe appeared in the 8-week London run of Peter Schaffer's play this year, garnering attention for showing his wand and quaffles in a nude scene. "I'm obviously nervous but I'm very very excited," said Radcliffe.
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Writer ponders the cultural cost of defying blockbusters
Esquire Nov 3, 07 11:09 AM CDT
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Lord Voldemort is the Darth Vader of the 21st century—if you don’t know what that means, you could be at a massive cultural disadvantage in a decade or two. Esquire 's Chuck Klosterman claims he hasn’t read a page of the Harry Potter series—hearing Harry didn’t die at series’ end, he “wasn’t even aware he was sick”—and he doesn't want to. But he worries out loud that he'll be punished for opting out when readers grow up.
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