Welcome to InHonorOfRowling.com! Your first and best source for everything about the woman behind the magic of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. Here you will find the latest news, pictures, videos and more on the "most famous writer in history"! Please feel free to contact us with any contributes or feedback. We hope you enjoy your stay and come back soon!
The Latest The Harry Potter Series Status: Completed on July 31, 2007 Purchase: Bookstores everywhere!
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Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them; Quidditch Through The Ages Status: Completed on March 12, 2001 Purchase: Bookstores everywhere!
The Tales Of Beedle & The Bard Status: Completed on December 04, 2008 (to the public) Purchase: Bookstores everywhere!
Pottermore Status: Beta Testing Release:Open to the public at the end of October Purchase: Coming Soon - First Ever HP e-Books
In Honor of Rowling is an unofficial J.K. Rowling fan site that is not affiliated with J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. Entertainment. All trademarks and copyrighted material are the property of their respective owners. We do not claim ownership in any of the pictures and/or content found here at the site or in the gallery. They belong to their rightful owners. This is a fansite made by fans, for fans. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.
We were recently given the opportunity to interview Joseph Galliano, the editor of Dear Me- More Letters to my Sixteen Year-Old Self’; a book to which Jo Rowling has contributed and written the foreword. The interview and details of how you can get involved with Dear Me are right here!
More from Jo & Dan’s conversation from the Deathly Hallows DVD (Coming out in three days!) has appeared on the web.
Radcliffe: Is there anything – talking about things being cut out – is there anything we’ve cut that you were upset about? And is there anything we put in that weren’t in the book that you thought were great? Because I remember with Alfonso and the Dementors..
Rowling: No, I remember exactly what it was with Alfonso. First of all, on the Dementor point I thought he did those beautifully. I loved the fact that they created the visceral dislike for the Dementors. I love what he did for the Dementors. What it was, there was something in the script. Alfonso really wanted to get music into the film. He put the choir in, which I loved. But at one point he had this bizarre scene where Flitwick was conducting and there were miniature people in an orchestra inside something. And I just, you see, this is my geekiness, I said to him, “But why?” I know it’s visually exciting, but part of what fans enjoyed about the literary world is there was a logic that underpinned it. There was always logic to the magic no matter however strange it became. I know it’s intriguing to go through the mouth of whatever it was and see these little people, but why? Why have they done it? For you to film it! That’s just what it feels like. You know, normally with the magic there’s a point. So we had a bit of a discussion about that.
Sometimes I’d dig my heels in about the funniest things. I’d say, “Yeah change the costume. Yeah it can happen in that city instead of that city. And all of a sudden, I’d say, ‘But they wouldn’t do that spell. Why would they do that there? So I think sometimes I confused people. But I also remember, right back at the beginning when you were cast I remember David Heyman calling me up and saying, “We’ve tried green contact lenses. We can digitally alter his eye color in post production. How important is it that his eyes are green?”
Radcliffe: That I will thank you for.
Rowling: And I said, um, “The only really important thing is that his eyes look like his mother’s eyes. So if you’re casting Lily, there needs to be a resemblance, but they don’t absolutely have to be green.” “Oh thank Christ,” he said. Were the lenses that awful?
Radcliffe: There is a very small percentage of people apparently who have a very extreme reaction to contact lenses. And I was one of them.
Rowling: You poor thing. I feel really bad.
Radcliffe: No, don’t worry! It was 10 years ago. It was really fine.
Well, we’re being spoilt rotten aren’t we! Another new clip has just surfaced of Jo talking about Deathly Hallows- Part 2, and how the Big Seven (which now extends to the characters as well as the actors) all get their moment in this film.
Below is a new clip from the extras on the Deathly Hallows – Part Two DVD. The clip, from Marie Claire magazine, shows Jo and Bonnie Wright talking about McGonagall and the role of women in general during fighting.
A new clip has surfaced today of Jo’s conversation with Daniel Radcliffe, to be included on the Deathly Hallows Part 2 DVD. In the clip Dan asks Jo if she ever considered killing off one of the trio… And she says yes! Who do you think she thought about bumping off?
A new trailer has been released, for the American Blu-Ray pack release of Deathly Hallows Part 2. The trailer features a very short snippet of Jo & Dan talking during their interview, which we’ve already seen a couple of clips from before.
Harry Potter- The Quest has released another sneak preview of the footage of Jo which will appear on the Deathly Hallows- Part 2 DVD. This clip shows Jo and Emma Watson talking about Hermione, and is apparently part of a segment called ‘The women of Harry Potter’.
We told you earlier, that we had the wonderful opportunity to interview Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg aka “The Harry Potter Rabbi” who teaches Judisum through the words of Jo Rowling’s novels.
IHOR: How does the Harry Potter series relate to Judaism?
Rabbi Rosenberg: While the series scrupulously shies away from organized religion, it leaves ample room for any religion, including Judaism, to find commonalities and identify with it. In this way, while JK Rowling does not force a religious outlook, she makes possible for ethical and religious people to benefit from her writing, especially in promoting the sort of values we all try to instill in our children and students.
A complete answer to this question would actually be the table of contents of Morality for Muggles: From relationships to character traits, from life to death to love, there are so many points upon which HP and Judaism shed similar or complementary light. I wrote my book to illustrate some of these areas of confluence.
IHOR: Can you give us an example on how you teach Judaism through Harry Potter?
Rabbi Rosenberg: Actually, rather than teaching Judaism, which is almost forcing the novels into a pre-conceived pattern, I see myself as teaching values to my students, and filtering them through the twin prisms of the Bible and Harry Potter. Many times both make the same point in their unique ways. If kids see this, they will grow accustomed to seeking out the values implicit in all that they read and relating them to their religious ideals.
One example might be to ask a class to name two guys and a girl who battled insurmountable odds to triumph over evil. The answer will come back: Harry, Ron and Hermione, of course, which is when I say, “How about Moses, Aaron and Miriam, their sister?” That leads to a discussion of what each one of the three, in the Bible and in HP, brings to the trio and how their unique chemistry works. Then, of course, the discussion can range further, asking if the bonds of friendship were ever disturbed by jealousy. It becomes clear that Aaron and Miriam, like Ron, had an episode in which they were tired of playing second fiddle, but ultimately repaired their relationship. To know the nature of true friendship, to understand that it is human to feel jealousy and to learn the lesson that one can repair relationships that one has tarnished are all so important for young people.
Another example might be to examine attitudes towards death. By contrasting Voldemort and Dumbledore’s attitudes kids can grapple with questions like: What is “worse than death?” Is death to be feared and fought or accepted as “the next great adventure?” To see how Dumbledore choreographed his own death, leaving the world on his own terms, and then to compare the Rabbinic account of the death scene of Aaron leaves one with the lesson that, while we cannot defeat death, we have an awful lot to say about how we meet it.
IHOR: Do you use J.K. Rowling’s personal story to teach, as well? If so, how?
Rabbi Rosenberg: I had not, but what a wonderful idea! Her story is inspiring and her journey is as impressive as that of her characters. Thank you for the suggestion!
For those of you who couldn’t see the video we posted the other day, of an extract of Daniel Radcliffe’s conversation with Jo (soon to appear on the Deathly Hallows Part 2 DVD)- never fear! The clip has now been posted on YouTube for all to see, unlike MTV’s clip which was region-locked. The short video can be seen here:
Another, longer, preview clip is also available here:
IHOR is very excited to see the full conversation when DH2 comes out!
