From Stephen King:

[Sirius Black-Snuffles]

Stephen King wrote a column for Entertainment Weekly (dot com) about Harry Potter and saying good bye. It's a really inspiring piece. You can read it here.

An excerpt:

Quote:

When it comes to Harry, part of me — a fairly large part, actually — can hardly bear to say goodbye. I'd guess that J.K. Rowling feels the same, although I'd also guess those feelings are mingled with the relief of knowing that the work is finally done, for better or worse.

And I'm a grown-up, for God's sake — a damn Muggle! Think how it must be for all the kids who were 8 when Harry debuted in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with its cartoon jacket and modest (500 copies) first edition. Those kids are now 18, and when they close the final book, they will be in some measure closing the book on their own childhoods — magic summers spent in the porch swing, or reading under the covers at camp with flashlights in hand, or listening to Jim Dale's recordings on long drives to see Grandma in Cincinnati or Uncle Bob in Wichita. My advice to families containing Harry Potter readers: Stock up on the Kleenex. You're gonna need it. It's all made worse by one unavoidable fact: It's not just Harry. It's time to say goodbye to the whole cast, from Moaning Myrtle to Scabbers the rat (a.k.a. Wormtail). Which leads to an interesting question — will the final volume satisfy Harry's longtime (and very devoted) readers?

So, what does everyone think?  

[Before The Stars Sleep]

OMG!!! It is so true! I have been reading these books since I was in the fourth grade and it just made me realize that yea I am closing the last book to my childhood. I apprieciate the way he expressed his feelings towards the books.  

[Androgynous Dusk]

I'm nearly in tears from just reading that! I'm a month away from 18 so it hits me, really close. That and it was the only thing that kept me from becoming hateful and spiteful during my 5th and 6th grade years.(I vwas picked on alot)  

[Tabatha_Twitchet]

I'll be exactly 16.5 the day Hallows comes out, so I literally grew up with the books. This one's gonna be really hard on me, I mean I cried when Ruroni Kenshin ended. I was telling my mom about the other day and she said:

"I guess [for you guys] it'll be like the Deadheads losing Jerry Garcia..."


I'm not really sure whether to laugh or cry at that statement.  

[Puddinpocalypse]

I've been reading them for a fair while too. It will definatly be sad when the books stop. Knowing there won't be any more will mean that once the last page is turned-well, thats it. A sort of finality to it all.  

[Androgynous Dusk]

3 HOURS gonk  

[Pearls of Dimond]

I've only been reading since my first public school year, 6th grade, but I still feel like crying every time I think "This is really the end, isn't it?"  

[Nicky Cade]

It's so true! I was so so excited the night before my eleventh birthday, so SURE I was going to get a Hogwarts letter. I was devestated when I didn't, but I still lived through Harry. And I'm a June birthday- I turned 18 mere weeks before the last book was released. So, I turned 18, had to leave High School, and THEN had to read the end of Harry Potter. I read the whole book without crying or anything emotional like that, and I even closed the book at the end and sat it down, and was fine....what got me was when I returned home on a holiday from school and had to put the book on the shelf with the others. I've never been a crier, but I sat there are cried for what felt like forever. It just can't be over....