JK Rowling denied top US honour

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
JK Rowling denied top US honour
18
Wed, 09-30-2009 - 9:51am

JK Rowling


JK Rowling's Harry Potter's books have sold more than 400 million copies


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8282356.stm


Harry Potter author JK Rowling missed out on a top honour because some US politicians believed she "encouraged witchcraft", it has been claimed.

Matt Latimer, former speech writer for President George W Bush, said that some members of his administration believed her books promoted sorcery.


As a result, she was never presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.


The claims appear in Latimer's new book called Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor.


He wrote that "narrow thinking" led White House officials to object to giving Rowling the civilian honour.


The award acknowledges contributions to US national interest, world peace or cultural endeavours.


Past literary recipients of the award include John Steinbeck and Harper Lee.


Others denied the privilege under the Bush administration included Senator Edward Kennedy, who died in August this year.


Latimer claimed, in his book, that the veteran politician and health care activist was excluded because he was deemed to be too liberal.

Photobucket      The WeatherPixie Patriot

 


Photobucket&nbs

Pages

Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-01-2009 - 8:43am
You're right.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2009
Thu, 10-01-2009 - 9:00am
I did, too, until I saw the list of recipients.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Thu, 10-01-2009 - 9:52am

Gay penguins book is most banned


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8284509.stm


Authors, artists and musicians are due to gather at a library in San Francisco to protest against the banning of books in schools and libraries in the US.

The event, part of the 27th annual Banned Books Week, has been organised by the American Library Association.


Since 2001 bans on 3,736 books and other materials have been requested.


In recent years, Tango Makes Three - based on a true story and centring on gay penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo - has had the most ban requests.


The book's authors are Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.


Reasons given by organisations and individuals for their requests to get it removed from public shelves, include "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, and unsuited to age group".


Other works featuring in the most-challenged books list for 2008 include Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.


Parents' concern


Pullman told Britain's Guardian newspaper that he was glad to be on the list.


However he added: "Of course it's a worry when anybody takes it upon themselves to dictate what people should or should not read."


The association said the aim of the annual awareness week, which ends on Saturday, is to remind US citizens not to take their freedom for granted.









And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman

TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle

Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz

Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar

Uncle Bobby's Wedding, by Sarah S. Brannen

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Flashcards of My Life, by Charise Mericle Harper

Among those at the San Francisco Public Library event will be authors and musicians Ben Fong-Torres, Richie Unterberger and Roy Zimmerman.


They plan to stage a number of performances and defend controversial books.


In 2008 the American Library Association recorded 517 ban requests. Seventy-four were successful.


The organisation recorded that the most common reason given was that contents were too "sexually explicit".


Other classic literature subjected to complaints include JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (Me: These last two surprise me.)


The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling also feature on the list.


Earlier this week, it was claimed that Harry Potter author JK Rowling missed out on the Presidential Medal of Freedom because some US politicians believed she "encouraged witchcraft".

Photobucket

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 10-01-2009 - 5:38pm

Absolutely nothing stops Obama from presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to J.K. Rowling.

If you have a complaint, blame our President. Who currently happens to be named Obama, not Bush.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Fri, 10-02-2009 - 4:46am
I don't know why Latimer even mentioned this since Bush isn't president any longer (see post above). Oh, wait, Latimer's book is in regard to his time as speechwriter in the Bush administration, not in re: to Obama.
~
Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Fri, 10-02-2009 - 7:36am
Well read. I'd feel similarly if Obama's administration denied her the award for the same reason. I'm not saying she's deserving of the award or not, just that the rationale that was in the article was wrong, and happened under the Bush admin.










iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 10-02-2009 - 8:50am

"Latimer's book is in regard to his time as speechwriter in the Bush administration, not in re: to Obama."


Some don't thoroughly read &/or don't comprehend

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Fri, 10-02-2009 - 3:54pm
Understood :)
~

Pages