J.K. Rowling.
Joanne’s mother, Anne Rowling, unfortunately died on December 30th, 1990. This was prior to the Harry Potter books being published, and it is said that Rowling’s mother was unaware that the series was even in the works (Hall). Jo originally conceived the idea of Harry Potter in July, 1990 while sitting on a four hour delayed train from Manchester to London King’s Cross (“J.K. Rowling”). Later that night she was still captivated by the adrenaline rush which she felt over the wizard boy and the world that he lived in. She did not want to waste time nor did she want to lose her ideas pertaining to the boy. She penned her thoughts and kept forming more concrete ideas on who he was and how his character would be. The same evening that she got the original idea she began to write, “Philosopher's Stone”, which was the first of the Harry Potter series (“J.K. Rowling Biography”). She then planned out the rest of the books over the span of five years, and there ended up being seven books within the series. She wrote these stories mainly in long hand, and gradually built-up notes scribbling on old paper scraps (“J.K. Rowling”). These notes were often taken with her as she moved, and ended up with Rowling in Northen Portugal due to a vacant position becoming available (“J.K. Rowling Biography”). In the city of Porto she taught English as a foreign language, in her spare time she then wrote the first three chapters of her first Harry Potter book. (“J.K. Rowling). As one could see, the loss of her mother influenced her writing on a whole since she was filled with such emotion. Rowling was depressed, confused, and regretful for not sharing the ideas revolving around Harry Potter with her mother. These emotions also influenced her rash decision to move to Portugal, so that she could ultimately escape to have a fresh start. These raw emotions that came with the loss of her mother, also made the plot of her series revolve around the theme of death. Harry Potter’s journey had him deal with death in many forms, the living, what it meant to die, and what survived death. That being said, the books included death because of what she experienced with her mother since she loved her so much and could not deal nor cope with the sudden loss (Hall).
FUN FACT : Harry Potter and Joanne Rowling are said to have the same birthday! His birthday is July 31st, 1980 and Rowling's is July 31st, 1965. I suggest that his parents dying coincides with the death of Rowling's mother since her loss was relaying through her characters and her writing ("Childhood and Family").
Work Cited
“Childhood and Family.” The Life and Times of J.K. Rowling,
thelifeandtimesofjkrowling.weebly.com/childhood-and-family.html
Hall, Dana. “JK Rowling Turned Down By 12 Publishers Before Finding Success
With Harry Potter Books.” Rise Up Eight, 4 Feb. 2020, riseupeight.org/jk-rowling-harry-potter-books/#:%7E:text=In%20December%201990%2C%20her%20mother,her%20mother%20about%20the%20project
“J. K. Rowling Biography.” Thefamouspeople,
www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/j-k-rowling-4295.php
“J.K. Rowling.” JKRowling.com, 2016. www.jkrowling.com/about