I'd read that J.K. Rowling's mother died of multiple sclerosis, but it didn't occur to me how strongly it influenced her books:
"I know I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died," she says. "I had never told her about [him].
"Barely a day goes by when I do not think of her. There would be so much to tell her, impossibly much."
…The death left her "a wreck", she says, and was the inspiration for Harry's orphan status. (Source)
January 10th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
That fact certainly lends support to her very honest and realistic treatment of death in the series.
January 31st, 2006 at 4:17 pm
She teaches everyone who reads her books, what it's like to truly portray emotion through writing. It may not be too personal according to her experiences, but it's true to life. And that's what kids need nowadays.