May I just say, amid the flurry of....... chaos(I'm trying to be polite) surrounding her NYC answer about Dumbledore, her never-changing demeanor is SO refreshing. What a truly lovely, intelligent and graceful woman.
I applaud her: on her books, on her inimitable characters, and on her integrity. The video of this conference when she feilded the same question about 6 different ways, should be a lesson to everyone having a cow about the whole deal.
I guess in short, I just wanted to say.. I've never been let down by her or her writing, and the way she's handling this unacccounted for maelstrom is remarkable! GO JO!

Couldn't have said it better myself my fellow Badger :D It's great to see someone so well grounded and firm with a wicked sense of humor....We Love You Jo!!

I was there, at the Toronto reading. Jo read from Chapter 19, The Silver Doe, beginning on page 308, at Ron's dialogue just after he destroyed the Horcrux and dragged Harry out of the pool...
"'I'm sorry', he said in a thick voice...."
She continued to read to the end of the chapter.

I have to say, I am not an overtly emotional person, but when she began to read, I wept. Such an amazing person, and the privilege of being there, in the same room, was more than an honour.

The Winter Garden Theatre is stunning; an elegant and intimate atmosphere. The reading was beautiful. The audience questions were pre-selected, and there was no other audience interaction at all. We all waited in our seats, some for more than an hour, to be herded like cattle across the stage to where the book signing was taking place. We were not allowed to stop, just to slow down long enough to grab a book that was hastily shoved in our hands as we paraded past Jo, like she was on display. There was one woman in particular, whose only job, it seemed, was to keep the line moving. She even pulled little kids away, grabbing their arms if they were not moving quickly enough for her liking.
Overall, I know how lucky I am to have been able to say 'Thank you' to a woman who has been such a big part of my life for the last 10 years. ( I have read each book at least three times.) But, especially given the intimacy of the setting,I am obliged to say I walked out of that theatre feeling disappointed and quite let down.

A few other tidbits from the reading...

- The magical object Jo would most like to have is a pensieve, to be able to go back to the past and relive memories from another's perspective. And also to just be able to clear her head sometimes.

Most other questions had already been asked and answered in one form or another, like:
-Which character did you find it hardest to kill?
All of them really. Probably Dobby was the hardest. But more people were upset over Hedwig than Mad-Eye! People should get their priorities straight! Hedwig was an OWL!
-What would your patronus be?
I would like it to be an otter, like Hermione, but I think it would be a dog.

There was also a very general question, from a librarian, that asked how she would get boys to read more. Jo never really answered that question properly, but basically said to give them good fiction instead of giving them lame fiction about 'boy' topics, like dolphins. ( Huh?)

She was also asked about the rules of Quidditch, and how she came up with them. Her reply began with, " Continuing in the spirit of openness that I have been using...I had just had an awful row with an ex-boyfriend. That's where the concept of a bludger came from." She went on to say that numerous people had told her that Quidditch didn't make sense, because there were too many balls, and too much happening all at the same time. She said that there had originally been a chapter in the first book where Dumbledore uses Quidditch as an allegory to life, because there is always more than one thing going on. She also said that it was obvious that a woman had invented it, because they are so much better at multi-tasking!

im sorry but its a bit odd that she's just now saying that dumbledore is gay i mean it hasnt even been a year since DH came out people are already moving on..i mean im sorry to say it but i think shes' saying it for publicity.:(YOU STILL ROCK JO!!!+_+ ...((nvm im ramlbing i gues))

I think it's awesome that she's saying Dumbledore is gay, but I think it should have been in the book somewhere. Like when Harry and Dumbledore were talking in DH, I think Harry should have asked Dumbledore why it took him so long to go and fight Grindelwald, and Dumbledore should have told Harry because he had been in love with him.

If she had put it in the book than everyone would know that she was being serious, because some people know say she just made it up. But I think that it's an awesome statement, and I hope that it at least opens some people's eyes that there is nothing wrong with being gay. Hopefully it will help the idea of being gay be more accepted into society.

Jekiramika, wow! Thanks for posting! That was really interesting! Good for you, that must have been wonderful. :)



I think it should have been in the book somewhere.
It was, is the point she made at Toronto. It's in the chapters about Grindlewald. She said that most adults would have picked up the hint, and younger people would have probably just assumed it was freindship. SO, I guess some picked up on it, and some didn't.. I actually didn't. BUT, it's obvious that she knew it, always planned it, and isn't going for publicity! We all know how well she maps out and constructs her characters, so I find it amazing(not to mention insulting) that so many are implying she just made it up on the spur of the moment. If you watch the Toronto video, she also says she left it til last because that's where she always planned to reveal it. She said "You don't put something about book 7 in book 1! Something meant to be at the end goes at the end!"... or something very similar.
Anyway. The point of my starting this was not to debate the gay issue again, just to discuss the new video posted on the front page, and the amazing way Jo handled herself. :)

Hi! I wanted to start a new thread about which countries she has visited in her book tours? was curious if she had come to Asia. but the e-mail verification thing doesn't work...grrrr...
i was curious...if anyone knows where all she has done reading besides the US, UK and Canada
thanks

rowlings_gr8 Please feel free to look around for a thread on that subject, and if there is none, to start a new one. This thread, however, is about Jo's appearance in Canada. Please stay on-topic. Thanks.