The Toronto Star from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 18

Al8 THE TORONTO STAR Monday, October 23, 2000. a V- V'' lM'm A Ex-premier latestfelled by B.C. disease 1 Ww 3 VA if' t- ,1. VX Vh' -S r- Jta L. f- A Li.

CP PHOTO MEDIA SAVVY: J.K. Howling's fame came suddenly, but she has quiekly learned how to ehann a media crowd, like the one she faced yesterday at the Hoyal York Hotel. She will read at the Sky Dome tomorrow. Shes most relaxed with children matic leader of the once dominant Social Credit party, was forced to step down in 1991 after an investigation found hed mixed private with public business in the sale of his Fantasy Garden World botanical theme park to a Taiwan-based billionaire. He was acquitted of breach of trust in 1992.

The former premier has since resurfaced as leader of the B.C Reform party. The Socreds ran B.C. for 40 years and produced their share of shady dealers. Cabinet minister Jack Davis resigned his portfolio in 1978 after being convicted of defrauding the province of 1 ,074 by exchanging first-class airline tickets for cheaper seats and pocketing the difference. Its very hard to get people to run for pubfic office when they're open to this kind of invasion of their privacy.

Very few people can survive that FDHMKR ILC.PIIKJflKR (Ii-kx Clark Then there was Flyin Phil Gaglardi, the highways minister convicted of contempt of court in 1960 for disobeying a court order involving payment of a road-building contract. Walter Davidson, former speaker of the legislature, was convicted in 1987 of counselling a printing firm to commit forgery, drawing probation and But perhaps the most famous case was that of Robert Sommers, forests minister under premier W. A C. Bennett, sentenced to five years in prison in 1958 on five counts of receiving bribes and one of conspiracy. The first cabinet minister in the Commonwealth to go to jail for crimes committed while in office, he served 28 months.

Glen Clark joins a long line of politicians forced out by scandal By Steve Mertl CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER In British Columbia politics, people play rough. It's very tough. Politics in B.G. is a different business from anywhere else, says Glen Clark. It was the brief moment of reflection for the former B.C.

premier, now charged with two counts of breach of trust and fraud against the government after a 22-month investigation. Clark is at the pointy end of a long, unsavoury history of B.C politicians whoVe run afoul of the law. He's the second premier in a decade to be forced out of office by a scandal that led to charges. No surprise really, in the province that boasts the first cabinet minister in Commonwealth history to be jailed for bribery. RCMP allege Clark broke the law helping friend and neighbour Dimitrios Pilarinos get a conditional casino licence in return for renovations done to his east Vancouver house and summer cottage.

Its troubling not just for me, says Clark. I think it should be troubling for British Columbians. Its very hard to get people to run for public office when they're open to this kind of invasion of their privacy. Very few people can survive that. Claik is the second B.C.

premier in less than 10 years to resign after a scandal that led to charges. Bill Vander Zalm, the charis drens books that Rowling visited for an hour on Saturday at the Lillian H. Smith branch on College St. She was wonderful, very appreciative, said Leslie McGrath, head of the collection. We showed her her own books in special cases, and told her they would still be here in 200 years.

The Toronto-based collection houses more than 60,000 literary works, with some dating back to the 14th century. Fitting, since she lives in Edinburgh, Rowling was piped into the ballroom of the hotel by a bagpipe player. Lastman, billed as Torontos chief Mug-gle, gave her the key to the city, saying she has a gift to inspire children to read. May Harry Potter live in the hearts and minds of the young and the young-at-heart, he said. He also gave her a pair of foam moose antlers.

Rowling spoke about her visit to the Osborne Collection and expressed the hope that it will continue to flourish and United Kingdom, after the Queen. Magic is a perennial theme in childrens literature because children are so powerless, she explained. She said she had not planned to write as long a book as her latest, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (635 pages). I nearly had a heart attack when 1 first printed it out, but I needed that many words to tell the story. She promised the next one, to be called Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, will be shorter, but would reveal nothing more about it.

Will there be life after Harry? Ill definitely be writing post-Hany. It will be hard to let go of him. Ill be slightly bereaved. I may write something for adults or Ill continue to write for children. One thing for sure, Ill write.

Ive been writing since I was 6. But I know Ill hever have a success like Hany again. The luncheon that followed raised money for the Osborne Collection of the Toronto Library, a collection of historical chil- vContiDNedfroia A1 ly the SkyDome has been configured to hold 36,000 spectators. In person, Rowling (her friends call her Jo) is a slim, intense young woman dressed conservatively in black and gray, with longish blonde hair whose dark roots show. Her elegant hands sport a French manicure and she wears dangly diamond earrings and a diamond studded watch as her only ornaments.

She handles the media like a pro, ignoring the many cameras pointed in her direction. She answers questions succinctly, but its dear she is morerelaxed with children many of them approached her starry-eyed at the luncheon afterwards and likes their questions better since they never ask about fame or money or the Portuguese ex-husband. She gets hundreds of queries from young readers by mail and in person: For example, what is a certain characters favourite colour or why does a stool described as having four legs in Book 1 have three in Book 4 of the seven-part series? Children ask the best questions. These (the characters in her books) are mutual friends of ours that I happen to know better, she says. She says she writes for six to 10 hours a day, if I have enough caffeine.

A single mother with a small daughter, who could not afford a computer to write with until the Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant, she is tired of the notion that hers is a Cinderella stoiy. It doesnt feel that way when youre living it We were very broke and now Im grateful every day that I dont have to worry about money. But it was a lot of hard work. I was not sitting by the fireplace waiting to be discovered by the prince. In the past three years, since die runaway success of her stories about the orphaned boy wizard, Harry Potter, and his escapades with his friends Ron and Her-mione at the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she has reportedly become die second-richest woman in the CfcE5 eKEfa? CANADAMPREMIUMMBON MmS or that 5.50 5.70 5.90 IwhI tmpmt ah if UH fcr HMfllMMhrIrtM.

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