Schafer, Elizabeth D. -
Scholastic -
Scottish Arts Council -
Scottish Book Trust -
Sedbury -
Shapiro, Marc -
Shaw, Fiona -
Shepherd, Lucy -
Simpsons, The -
Sladden, Susan -
Nestle Smarties Book Prize -
Smith, Dodie -
Smith, Jennifer -
Smith, Maggie (Dame) -
Smith, Sean -
Somerville, Geraldine -
Snape -
Spall, Timothy -
Spriggs, Elizabeth -
Spurs -
Staunton, Imelda -
Stouffer, Nancy -
Swing
Schafer, Elizabeth D.
Schafer is the author of
Beacham's Sourcebooks for
Teaching Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Harry Potter
(Beacham Publishing Corp., 2001). Schafer's book appears to have been pulled
together hastily and contains a number of errors and inconsistencies, which
many fans have pointed out in
reviews.
Scholastic
Scholastic, Inc. is the publisher of the American versions of
the Harry Potter novels.
Arthur Levine of Scholastic won the
bidding war amongst New York publishers and paid $100,000 for
the rights to publish the American versions of JKR's
Harry Potter novels.
Scottish Arts Council
Although Rowling was not technically a published author at the time she
applied for a grant from the Scottish Arts Council, they believed that her
contract with Bloomsbury was sufficient grounds for application for one of
the ten annual grants. She received the highest possible bursary award from
the Council of £8,000 ($12,000)
(SS_JKRB).
Scottish Book Trust
The Scottish Book Trust is an organization that promotes reading by
recommending books, especially for children.
Lindsey Fraser,
Executive Director of the Scottish Book Trust, was impressed immediately with
PS and subsequently wrote a
book-form interview with JKR
(see Fraser, Lindsey).
Sedbury
Rowling attended the Wyedean Comprehensive in the village of Sedbury,
which was near her home in the village of
Tutshill.
Shapiro, Marc
Author of a short biography of JKR entitled
J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter
(St. Martin's Press, 2001),
Shapiro's work has numerous factual errors and is not considered a
particularly good source for biographical information amongst fans.
Shapiro is the author of a number of unauthorized celebrity biographies.
Shaw, Fiona
Born in July 1958 in County Cork, Ireland, Fiona Shaw was cast as
Petunia Dursley in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0789716/
Shepherd, Lucy
Lucy Shepherd was JKR's English teacher at
Wyedean Comprehensive secondary school in
Sedbury. Rowling has mentioned her influence in
several interviews, and based on comments she has made, one can glean that
the character of
Professor Remus Lupin may have been
influenced by Rowling's memory of her old teacher. Retired now from teaching
and working in a bookstore in Bristol, Lucy Shepherd sent JKR a warm letter
of praise after she first read
PS in 1997
(Connie Ann Kirk,
J.K.
Rowling: A Biography, Greenwood Press, 2003).
Simpsons, the
JKR admits to loving this television series created by Matt Groening.
Describing it as a "work of genius," Rowling says that it's
evident that Groening set the rules of what his characters can and
cannot do in advance, as she has done with Harry's world in her novels.
Lisa is her favorite Simpsons character. As one example of a
"rule" in her universe, JKR says that there is
wizarding legislation
regulating what wizards can conjure out of thin air
(anything conjured out of thin air won't last); therefore, the
Weasleys are unable to
conjure money, food or other necessities
(SN).
JKR appeared as herself in The Simpsons episode entitled
"The Regina Monologues"
(BBC Newsround, 28 February 2003).
Skeoch, Charlotte
Charlotte Skeoch was cast as
Hannah Abbott in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1217942/
Sladden, Susan
Rowling dedicated GF to:
"Peter Rowling, in memory of
Mr. Ridley,
and to Susan Sladden, who helped Harry get out of his cupboard."
The identity of Susan Sladden is uncertain, but very likely she is
the Susan who Rowling talked about in an interview with
the Washington Post:
In Edinburgh, mother and daughter belonged to a Church of Scotland congregation. Jessica was christened there. At church Rowling met an older woman named Susan, "who's coming on to 70" and never married. "We were not 'dead certs' for friendship," Rowling added.
"Susan really helped me," Rowling recalled. The elderly woman would take care of Jessica for an afternoon and encourage Rowling to get out a little, kick up her heels, see an art show, do some window shopping. Instead, Rowling would find an empty table at a coffee shop and work on Harry Potter.
When Susan would ask Rowling how she had spent her time, Rowling would tell her and Susan was invariably disappointed. Rowling never showed Susan her work. "I was very very very insecure," she said. "I never showed anyone my writing." (WP1)
Nestle Smarties Book Prize
Book prize awarded to PS in
1997 and to CS in 1998.
Chosen by an equal mixture of children and adult reviewers, the Smarties
Book Prize is akin to the Booker Prize in the United States.
Smith, Dodie
Author of
I Capture the Castle,
one of JKR's favourite books for "younger people"
(EBF). Smith is
perhaps best known in the U.S. as the author of
The One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
Smith, Jennifer
Jennifer Smith was cast as
Lavender Brown in
PA/f.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1600284/
Smith, Maggie (Dame)
She was born Margaret Nathalie Smith in 1934 in Ilford, Essex.
Dame Maggie Smith was cast in the role of
Minerva McGonagall for the
Harry Potter films. Full
biographical details and detailed notes about her extremely successful
acting career can be found at:
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800019451&cf=biog&intl=us
Smith, Sean
Author of J. K. Rowling: A Biography,
which was published in 2001 by Michael O'Mara Books Limited, Smith is
a former national newspaper columnist in the United Kingdom who now works
primarily as a free-lance writer. His other books include
Sophie's Kiss,
When You Walk Through the Storm (about the Hillsborough football
tragedy), Stone Me!, a Rolling Stones companion, The Union Game,
and Royal Racing. This biography is well-researched and serves
to correct some of the misinformation that persists about Rowling's life.
However, it has been subject to some criticism, including Rowling's own
alleged dismissal of it (Connie Ann Kirk,
J.K.
Rowling: A Biography, Greenwood Press, 2003).
Snape
Snape is the name of two separate villages in England. Further details about
the village of Snape located in the county of Suffolk can be found at
www.snapevillage.org.uk.
Somerville, Geraldine
Born in May 1967 in County Meath, Ireland, Geraldine Somerville was cast as
Lily Potter in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0813893/
Spall, Timothy
Born in February 1957 in London, England, Timothy Spall was cast as
Peter Pettigrew in the
Harry Potter films.
"I relish Pettigrew," Spall beams. "It's nice to play a character so reprehensible and weak. He's a rat - I'm now a pin-up in all sorts of pet shops!" Interview, The Independent, December 28, 2004.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001758/
Spriggs, Elizabeth
Born in September 1929 in Derbyshire, England, Elizabeth Spriggs was cast as
the Fat Lady in
PS/f.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0819655/
Spurs
The football team
favored by JKR. She admits to not being an obsessed fan
of any sport or team, but her father's family are all Spurs fans
(SN).
Staunton, Imelda
Born in January 1956 in London, England, Imelda Staunton was cast as
Dolores Umbridge in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001767/
Stouffer, Nancy
In March 2000, Nancy Stouffer filed a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania
against JKR, Scholastic and Warner Bros.,
alleging violation of her trademark rights in the term "muggle,"
which she claimed she had used in her unsuccessful and sparsely-distributed
children's books from the 1980s (in particular, her book titled
The Legend of Rah and the Muggles). JKR,
Scholastic and Warner Bros. filed in the federal
district court for the Southern District of New York, requesting declaratory
judgment against Stouffer's claims. On 19 September 2002
(Hermione's birthday),
the judge in the Southern District of New York dismissed Stouffer's claims,
imposed $30,000 in sanctions and ordered Stouffer to pay a portion of the
attorney's fees for the defense. In his ruling, the judge held that she had
falsified evidence in at least seven instances, including altering an
advertisement to include a trademark symbol, modifying paragraphs that
allegedly refer to a book titled Larry Potter and His Best Friend
Lilly, and forging sales invoices. The federal appeals court upheld the
lower court's ruling and ordered that appeals costs be borne by Stouffer.
Swing
A disco in Porto, Portugal,
where Rowling and her friends
Jill Prewett and
Aine Kiely spent many
an evening. The third book is dedicated as follows:
"To Jill Prewett and
Aine Kiely, the Godmothers of Swing."
