That was a special weekend in the history of reading. Friday midnight found my daughters and me in front of our local bookseller. It's just a small independent store, but there were a hundred or so people gathered there: many young kids up late with their parents, lots of teens, quite a few adults. A happy, friendly bunch with an undertone of anticipation. It hit 12.00, and one girl in the line burst into tears of excitement as she was handed her copy.
We knew this scene was being repeated all over the city and all over the world that night: crowds of people out at midnight just because they care about a book, about a story.
It's the third time in a row we've been out in one of those midnight Harry Potter crowds. Will we ever in our lifetimes do anything like that again? Not likely. Glad I was part of it. J.K. Rowling, good on you.
