J K Rowling: The Fringe Benefits of Failure

February 1, 2011 by Gail
Filed under VidStyle

At her Harvard commencement speech, ‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling offers some powerful, heartening advice to dreamers and overachievers, including one hard-won lesson that she deems “worth more than any qualification I ever earned.”

ABOUT TED

TED is a small Non Profit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment and Design.

ABOUT J K Rowling

“A single mother who battled poverty and depression as she struggled to launch her writing career, Joanne ‘J K’ Rowling was to become perhaps the most famous contemporary fiction writer in the world, with her Harry Potter series of children’s books, a chronicle of the adventures of an adolescent wizard of the same name.

The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best selling Book Series in history and been the basis for a popular series of films in which she had overall approval on the scripts as well as maintaining creative control by serving as a producer on the final instalment.

The fourth volume of the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ was the fastest selling book in history. Since completing the series, she has put her fortune toward philanthropic projects dealing with poverty, multiple sclerosis and other issues through her own Volant Charitable Trust.”

The VIDEO