European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 15, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 scene stars and stripes july 2007 mania for Book series very Likely to live Prosper q 0 As the Harry Potter series wraps up this we can look Back at two remarkable narratives Potter the boy wizard and Potter the cultural Potter the wizards Fate will be known july 21 with the release of Harry Potter and deathly Book 7 of Rowlings fantasy worldwide sales of the first six books already top 325 million copies and the first print ing for deathly hallows is 12 Mil lion in the United states Potter the phenomenon Doest compare for but like the wizards it is unique and extraordinary and Well placed in like Star wars and Star it is the Story of How a work of popular Art becomes a world of its own imitate merchandised and immortalized not by the but by the every phenomenon is a kind of myth unto a myth about How a phenomenon becomes a phenom the Story of How the Public embraced Potter Only gives More momentum to Potter in our says Neal an author and cultural critic whose books include Walt Disney and life the movie How entertainment conquered True Phenomena Are never not Star a series cancelled after three seasons by Abc or Star rejected throughout Hollywood be fore taken on by 20th Century which didst bother pushing for merchandising or sequel the Public knew better the Young people who screamed for the beatles or watched Star wars dozens of times or carried on for years about Star trek after its in the Harry Potter simply needed a believing her manuscript too Long too before the Bloomsbury press signed her up in for and a warning not to expect to get Rich from writing childrens an american publisher had bigger ideas Scholastic editor Arthur Levine acquired rights for i can vividly remember read ing the manuscript and think we feel empowered by making a phenomenon out of something like and Potter itself addresses idea of empowerment this reminds me of Roald an author of such an author with a unique ability to be funny and cutting and exciting at the same Levine but i could not possibly have had the expectation we would be printing 12 million copies for one Book deathly that beyond anyone expert i would have had to be literally for the the biggest news at first was Rowling herself an single English Mother who gets the idea for a fantasy series while stuck on a train be several British publishers turned Down tween Manchester and finishes the manuscript in the cafes of and finds herself in More than one to in if there is a Downside to Rowlings Story it is the distinct danger she will be called the new Roald which would be an Albatross around her Slen Der the Glasgow based the Herald warned in june 1 997 with publication of Harry Potter and the philosophers the first Potter philosophers Stone was released in England during business hours with a tiny first blooms Bury suggested that Rowling use initials instead of her real out of fear that boys  potters impressive publishing Rowlings series has been published in 64 languages with a worldwide printing of about 325 million Harry Potter and the deathly hallows has a first printing of 12 print in sorcerers Stone 1998 28 or Mac fits 1999 of a Kaban 1999 19 2000 19 order of the Phoenix 2003 16 half blood Prince 2005 source Scholastic a Harry Potter and read a Book by a the Book quickly became a commercial and critical favorite and just kept in july the guard Ian in London noted that Rowling was More popular than John Grisham and declared the Harry Potter books have become a at the philosophers Stone had sold the first Book came out in the United states in sep tember renamed Harry Potter and the sorcerers Stone for Young americans and promoted by meet Harry Potter Potter was first mentioned by the associated press that when Rowling was interviewed in new York during a five City Potter appeared a month later in the new York cited Well Down in a round up of Holiday by january the a was Call ing Potter a noting in a Brief item that Joanne Rowling has gone from hard up single Mother to literary in july the word appeared in Long articles in the los Angeles publishers weekly and the which observed that Hannibal Lecter and Harry Potter Are shaping up As the Summers must but then with a bit of a Harry who by Harry was a Friend to the Toast of Midnight Book parties around the for a the first three Potter books held the top positions on the times hardcover fiction list of Best leading the newspaper to create a separate category for childrens the fourth Harry Potter and the Goblet of had a first printing of million in the United states the release Date became so every one could come to it at the same time no spoilers according to Scholastic spokeswoman Kyle Potter was pulling in All Rene a buyer for All for kids books an Independent store based in says the Appeal to grownups set Potter she began noticing that adults not Only read but would browse through other titles in the childrens fantasy people were beginning to realize that there was some extraordinary literature written for people under she it Doest feel Odd anymore for adults to be seen Reading childrens Potter has made a big Potter was alive and Breeding on the thanks to fan Sites such As and web masters Emerson Spartz of Leaky cauldron and Melissa Anelli of Muggle net agree that Between 2000 and 2003 the Potter Galaxy exploded from publishing phenomenon to cultural Spartz notes the release of the first Potter in Anelli refers to the three year wait for Book Harry Potter and the order of the around message mailing blogs were starting to form into the Community hubs we have so the who were desperately awaiting word on the fifth Book obsessed together on the writing their own fan having huge discussions picking every last piece of the Canon