Last night
Biochemkris and I had the immense pleasure of being in attendance at the benefit,
'An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp', featuring authors
Stephen King,
John Irving and J.K. Rowling at
Radio City Music Hall in New York city. Proceeds from the event went to benefit the Haven Foundation and
Doctors Without Borders.
It was a hot day in New York, but the fans lined up early outside of
Radio City, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ms. Rowling at the back stage door. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed as she did not appear, but it was rather fun to see the many Harry Potter Fans dressed in pride and clutching books under their arms as we waited.
Once inside and seated, we were treated to lovely and often hilarious introductions by actresses
Whoopi Goldberg,
Kathy Bates and by
Daily Show host
John Stewart ("yes, my five month old daughter is on line for the next book... we really miss her but we just want the damn book!" and "my two year old son was born with a lightning bolt... yes if you take your fingernail and press it on his forehead long enough he has a lightning bolt").
J.K. Rowling read third and was received with a thunder of applause and belated 'Happy Birthdays'. She looked lovely in a simple black dress and silver high heel shoes (which this reporter felt were rather Slytherin inspired with an intricate serpentine pattern). She joked about following the other great authors but laughingly remarked that "she had the best shoes." She went on to read an excerpt from
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', chapter 13
'The Secret Riddle' in which Harry and Dumbledore observe the younger Dumbledore meet Tom Riddle for the first time. She did a great job, though she confessed to being quite nervous. She followed up with a session of 'Questions and Answers' which included:
What would Hermione see if she looked into the Mirror of Erised?
To which she replied, at this point, of course, Hermione would see the three friends alive and unscathed and Voldemort gone. In particular, she would also see herself closely entwined with another person. "You can probably guess who?" she teased.
Can Muggles brew potions?
Even with all the proper ingredients, the answer would be
no, as there is always still an element of magic involved, therefore a wand is necessary. She also stated that if a muggle were to get their hands on a wand then she would expect something 'accidental and violent' to be the result of that, in a similar way as when a wizard uses someone else’s wand. She also went on to tease us slightly in saying that there would be more in
book 7 about the wizard's personal connection to his/her wand.
Is there a chance of redemption and/or side changing for certain characters? In particular the name Snape and Draco were raised.
JKR stated that there was a chance for redemption for
almost everyone and pointed out Voldemort as one who had no hope of it. She did not address Snape, however, she did have comments on
Draco. "In Harry's point of view,
and hers," Draco, given the time to decide, would not have killed... "you have all read the book by now, I hope?" *laughter* "He would
not have killed the person in question." She also said the consequences of Draco not being able to kill said person will be seen in book 7.
Why did Ollivander choose the three wand cores that he did as being most powerful?
She stated that these three were her favorites, of course. But there are other wand makers in the world and that they often use things that are particular to their own country. She also said the relationship between a wizard and his wand will become more important in book 7.
With regards to her writing: how do you know when to stop?
JKR replied that she has known for 16 years where she was going with Harry Potter, however, there is always still a lot to explain. She joked that she "will probably leave some things hanging," to which there was much laughter about future companion books to explain it all. But she assured us that she would address the important things. She also, once more, addressed her admiration of people who stopped when the readers still wanted more.
In this day of computers, has anything online influenced you?
To which she replied that she fought with the 'masochistic' desire to read the negative reviews at Amazon.com.
On fan sites in particular, she stated there was a time, when first asked, that "no, she did not go to them. But on a bored day, she googled Harry Potter and was shocked." She made reference to the shipping wars being 'cyber gang warfare' over Harry/Hermione (to which there were scattered cheers and she laughed "oh, you're still out there!") vs. Hermione/Ron with much greater applause. She also laughed about some of the 'weird couplings', but "we won't go there". Further, she stated that the online world was exciting and interesting - "if used wisely."
With regard to rejection, did you ever think of giving up? And if she had - what would she be doing now?
She stated that though she had an agent early on, she did face a lot of rejection. But she believed so strongly in Harry and her story that she was determined to keep going until the very last publisher rejected her, "which was getting close." She felt that if even after 16 years if she was still trying, that she would still be a writer today, though her alternative career would have been teaching.
The authors are scheduled to read again tonight, August 2nd, and Radio City has promised webcasts of the events later this month on MSN.com. Stay tuned! EDIT: I feel I must add that there are no pictures taken by this reporter during the event, as cameras were strictly prohibited within the auditorium and we respected this rule. UPDATE:
Gwen, aka
Lemonlimeoranges, was also in New York last night and has kindly shared a few pictures she took outside Radio City Music Hall! You may see them
here ,
here ,
here , and
here.
Thank You Gwen!
UPDATE:
Gwen has also found a CNN video clip on
Yahoo news with footage from last night's event in which we hear the end of JKR's reading and her answer to Hermione and the Mirror of Erised question, as well as the her answer to 'will Draco redeem himself?'. You may view it
here.
Thanks Gwen!
SS Report on J.K.Rowling Book reading in New York (UPDATED) 
She probably didn't talk about Snape for a reason, so maybe both of them can come back and be good.
_
_
I can't wait for the webcast!
x1
