J.K. Rowling fielded questions from the Canadian press this morning in the lounge at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. It was a precursor to her appearance at the International Festival of Authors where she read from the last installment of her Harry Potter series.

At the start of the press conference, Rowling was presented with the Order of Forest, which was established by Markets Initiative, in recognition for encouraging 16 of her publishers to adopt green paper policies. Of course, after revealing news about Dumbledore’s sexuality last Friday in New York, the Canadian press couldn’t resist to ask the question. In such time when being green is so important, who would have known, that Dumbledore’s sexuality would be more so.

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About a month ago, I lifted the book from the shelf at Indigo and contemplated the purchase of Dispatches From the Edge, with a gift card I had received from a good friend, Anderson Cooper’s face looking just over my shoulder from the front jacket. It took me three trips to the bookstore before I eventually made a purchase, none of which was Cooper’s book.

Tonight, I invited Edward to join me on a thrift hop, travelling from Value Village to Value Village. Our first stop however was the Goodwill, which is 5 minutes from my home. On our drive there Edward told me how Goodwill’s policies have changed recently, the prices on their good had been slightly raised and the silent auctions removed fron their retail outlets.

As we entered the store I was saddened to see that this was true. Gone was the jewelry case filled with costume bling and used camera equipment. We slowly made our way to the back and stood in front of the sleves of books and there it was. Anderson Cooper’s book for a mere $1.99. Needless to say, I picked it up, how could I not?

So I just finished reading the introduction and I am already drawn in. I must admit that global news or wars and other disastered is not usually my cup of tea, there is something about Anderson’s writing that’s got me hooked. I’m not sure when I firsted noticed Anderson, but it was years ago, before he had his own show but it was definitely through CNN. Can I admit here that he is a silverfox? But today, reading the introduction alone, I realized he is much more. An intellectual, definitely, but more importantly a human. Although I don’t come from a famly of affluence, I instantly related to what he was saying, because what he conveyed here was his human nature.

In particular, I related to his anecdote about the shark and being constantly on the go. It’s definitely something I do in my own life, always busy, never giving myself time to stop.

In any case, I look forward to reading the rest of his memoir, I’m sure he doesn’t mind that I bought his book second hand, and if he does have a problem with that, he can talk to me about it himself, face to face.

Last week, I covered a boxing match between Author, Craig Davidson and Poet, Michael Knox for the Quill and Quire. Admittedly, it was the strangest book event I have ever been to, but it tied in well for the novel, The Fighter which was written by Davidson.