Tim Wu in an article for The New Yorker looks at the events leading up to the trial, speaks to Steve Vander Ark, and compares J.K. Rowling to the mythical Athena:
“Once upon a time, a talented weaver named Arachne declared herself superior in skill to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who also invented weaving. Whether Arachne was actually better we’ll never know, for Athena, in a jealous rage, destroyed her rival’s tapestry and turned her into a spider. Last summer, at a “Harry Potter” convention in Toronto, a fan named Steve Vander Ark made a similar mistake when he dared to compare himself to Joanne (J. K.) Rowling.”
Wu describes what led Vander Ark to create the Lexicon website, and notes that Vander Ark has suffered “cruel fates” as a result of the lawsuit:
“In the late nineties, while working as a children’s librarian in Byron Center, Michigan (pop. 3,777), he discovered the “Potter” series. He began to take notes and, by his own estimate, has read each of the books forty or fifty times. “Something about these detailed imaginative worlds just captivated me,” he said during a court recess.
In 2000, Vander Ark, who considers himself a Ravenclaw, turned his obsessive notes into a Web site, The Harry Potter Lexicon. Soon, he was a celebrity in the “Potter” community. But when he decided to turn his Web site into a book Rowling sued his publisher, effectively exiling him from the wizard community.”
Wu also notes Leaky webmistress Melissa Anelli’s presence in the court room:
Anelli is writing her own “Potter” book, with Rowling’s blessing, and during a break in the trial Rowling sought her out and gave her a warm embrace, a moment that might have been as difficult for Vander Ark as any part of the legal proceedings.
“Melissa has done more to hurt me than Rowling,” Vander Ark said during a recess. “I can’t blame her for liking her status.” After all, he said, Rowling “is God and Melissa is her prophet.” He went on, “I am an outcast now. But I still consider myself a ‘Harry Potter’ fan.”
*
Editor’s Note: In the above-mentioned article, Mr. Wu attributed several statements made during a recent PotterCast (number 148) to Melissa Anelli (“He is vilified now”, “He has ruined his good standing.”). These remarks were instead made by Leaky Editor Sue Upton, who was commenting on the impact the decision to publish the book has made upon Vander Ark’s reputation.
For anyone who feels like publicly stating they are boycotting his book if it gets published, please join the Facebook Group “Harry Potter fans boycotting Steve Vander Ark and RDR books”. I did not create this group, nor am I an officer, I just ran across it and thought it was an excellent idea.
I can’t believe he actually said “Many readers dislike the epilogue in the final book; Vander Ark urged them to disregard it entirely, and even invented his own spell to do so (“expelliepilogus”). “Jo’s quit, she’s done,” he told the audience. “We’re taking over now.”
I’m sitting here with my mouth open in disbelief. That is so rude. If I had of been there I would have started booing him.
Melissa your site is the best and you are well rid of Steve. He has shot himself in the foot yet again and maybe now this will open up the eyes of the people who still felt sympathy for him.
Isn’t Melissa’s book about the fandom (correct me if I am wrong)? How can Mr. Wu compare Steve’s book with Melissa. She writes about how the HP fandom works together and analyzes the impact the book series has had on society. All Steve does is organize Jo’s work into a spoiler book.
Wow, sounds to me like SVA has lost touch with reality completely. Melissa is a prophet? JKR is God? He has been vilified? (well he has but by his own hand) Just when I thought this whole thing couldn’t get crazier. Seriously, the guy needs some mental health professionals. I really, REALLY think he has somehow put himself in the HP world and that has become his reality.
And as for the, ummm, author of this scholarly piece (choke, gasp) what the heck is with this ancient Greece garbage? Seriously bad, bad writing here and facts completely disregarded or misconstrued.
I cannot wait till the judge renders a verdict so we don’t have to hear about SVA anymore.
I think we should all call Mr. Wu telling him to appologize to Melissa and all of the HP community. If nothing else, send him an e-mail with the words “GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!”
A big thank you to everyone at Leaky for the way they’ve handled their coverage of the trial from the beginning!! Leaky and PotterCast are the only sources I’ve found for consistent and accurate coverage about this situation. If Mr. Vander Ark wants people to have any sympathy for feeling like an outcast, he should probably stop making cruel and ridiculous comments about everyone and everything that the Potter community holds dear. Neither he nor Mr. Wu have any right to go after Melissa, Sue, or any of the Leaky crew!!
Are you kidding me? What ever did Steve expect to happen when he decided to plagiarize Jo’s writing? I am sorry to say this, but I think the mere fact that Steve appears to be unaware of the wrongs that were taken here verges on delusional thinking.
Anyone who writes anything for a living, or even attended school in this country, knows that to take people’s words is plagiarism, period. Secondly, if you take people’s words there is this system used for that, which happens to be called “citing”. Furthermore, there are books that teach individuals how to cite properly; basic MLA formats.
The only thing I can surmise from this is that Steve lacks self awareness. He also appears to be at a deficit to understand that the impact of his choices and actions. In addition those choices, he is clearly not taking responsibility for what he has done and therefore protests by placing blame on others rather than to looking closer to home. This is typical disassociation from self and interpersonal behaviors. It’s shameful that he is trying to pull others into his misery.
Wow. That is all I have to say. Wu needs to get his facts straight before making such heinous comments. I can believe that a reporter did this, I mean especially after the pottercast where they gave many specific examples of other reporters doing this, as well as in my own expierence seeing articles such as these, but every time i see something like this, well I get a little angry, and for good reason. Melissa, that reporter has NO right to insult you and offend you in any way. I am just appalled!!!
Jo acts like athena, in a way…but, the problem is Jo didn’t invent WRITING, she invented Harry Potter. . .
If, in the myth, Athena made and developed a very specialized method of weaving, the analogy would make sense and the woman declared she was the best at it, MAYBE, MAYBE that coudl hold osme water…
but, as Wu is comparing something so general as weaving, to something as specific as 7 books out of the BILLIONS of pieces of work (including term papers, thesis papers, book reports etc.) done by various authors it doesn’t make sense…
HOLY *^$@#&&% what the HELL is GOING through Steve’s head! Literally! If any of you listen to Mugglecast, there was a question posed as to whether they would ignore Steve if he went, for example, to a conference. They said they would accept him back and not let the friendship go out with the bathwater…I sure as HELL hope that they chang thir minds after this TRASH that he said about Melissa, an /OPITIME/ of the perfect Harry Potter fan.
I’m buying your book Melissa done and done. Steve, if you’re reading this, I would say some extremely mean things right now. But I won’t.
I think that what this “journalist” wrote is absolutely disgusting. Yet sadly, he is just another in a long line of “journalists” who instead of reporting the truth are only interested in selling a story. I really wish that someone would tell the story how it really is and not take a side, but mention the fact that an incredibly large percent of the fandom is with Jo. The worst part of the article is what Steve said about Melissa. He should have the maturity that she has and not make this personal. Not once has Melissa said anything rude about Steve only that she disagrees with him, which so many of us fans do and we all have the right to do! Its sad that Steve is getting all this press and is trying to make people believe that he is the victim when its his own fault to begin with. I understand if RDR made him go through with the lawsuit, but they didn’t force him to be a jerk. I just hope that Melissa doesn’t take his stupidity to heart. Like many others posted, I’m with you Melissa.
“I can’t believe he actually said “Many readers dislike the epilogue in the final book; Vander Ark urged them to disregard it entirely, and even invented his own spell to do so (“expelliepilogus”). “Jo’s quit, she’s done,” he told the audience. “We’re taking over now.”
I’m sitting here with my mouth open in disbelief. That is so rude. If I had of been there I would have started booing him.
Posted by Rachel * on May 05, 2008 @ 10:07 PM “
Rachel, this is a case of the context being schewed. i can assure you, the few hundred people in attendance most certainly did not boo. do you honestly not remember the fan reaction to the epiloge at all? Jo is done, fanficers are not bound by what’s in the epiloge, we can ignore it. we can draw pairings that are not epiloge compliant. fandom creations no longer hinge on what Jo says. the books are done, they are the canon, but we are fanon and that, we own.
you know, when i start to see people cut and pasting various quotes together, i start to question what i’m reading. this is the guy who quoted Melissa saying what Sue actually said.
Melissa,
Don’t listen to this trash! We’re all in this with you! Vander Ark better get his facts straight, since the more he turns on you and the other members of the HP community, the greater his exile becomes. We Support YOU! Don’t listen to this guy!
For anyone who feels like publicly stating they are boycotting his book if it gets published, please join the Facebook Group “Harry Potter fans boycotting Steve Vander Ark and RDR books”. I did not create this group, nor am I an officer, I just ran across it and thought it was an excellent idea.