In honour of her big day on Friday (July 31), we revisit nine times we fell in love with the incredible lady.
1. She takes down Twitter trolls
.@sjosiah0 The Internet doesn't just offer opportunities for misogynistic abuse, you know. Penis enlargers can also be bought discreetly.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 8, 2015
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Where some celebs go straight to the block button, JK isn't afraid to confront idiot tweeters head on. When one user made unsavoury comments about her opposition to the Scottish National Party, she hit right back with a crack about penis enlargers.
.@diegtristan8 "she is built like a man". Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You're an idiot. pic.twitter.com/BCvT10MYkI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 11, 2015
More recently she served up a social media ace after receiving an unsavoury tweet about Serena Williams during Wimbledon. Game, set and match JK Rowling!
2. Traffic stands still when she trims her bush
Is anyone NOT deeply impressed by JK Rowling's massive bush? pic.twitter.com/bDB41tuLNR
— Camilla Long (@camillalong) July 23, 2015
Twitter went into a meltdown only last week when it emerged that JK's overgrown Leylandii hedges were getting trimmed at her Edinburgh mansion. The gardening work left the surrounding streets jammed with traffic for three days, prompting some heat from local residents and reducing the internet to over-excited tittering.
3. Her 2008 speech at Harvard was utterly life-affirming
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better."
4. Her jaw hit the floor when she saw Neville Longbottom's bulge
.@Mattdavelewis Not as bad as watching Dan in Equus, but close. Warn me next time, for God's sake. https://t.co/r8EUd1GKqT
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 21, 2015
The Neville Longbottom-is-now-hot narrative is just about played out, but Matthew Lewis's Attitude shoot this year prompted JK to have her say on the former Harry Potter star.
"Well, this is awkward. Sorry, Jo..." Lewis responded, before JK quipped back "I will always support you whatever you want to do, Matthew. Now go put some clothes on."
5. She comes out wands blazing for the BBC
Turns out people all over the world are pretty perplexed as to why our government would want to mess with the @BBC.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 17, 2015
The battle between the government and the BBC is starting to resemble the climax of Deathly Hallows - Part 2, with David Cameron taking on the guise of slippery villain Voldemort and the broadcaster an under-attack Hogwarts. Naturally, JK is casting spells for the Beeb, and she recently came out in its defence by kick-starting a #BBCmemories hashtag.
Among the BBC favourites JK listed are: The Clangers, Monty Python, Blackadder, Pride & Prejudice, The Royle Family, The Good Life, Swap Shop, Panorama and Red Dwarf.
6. She reveals new Harry Potter nuggets all the time
Despite the Harry Potter story ending several years ago, the world of Hogwarts is still very much alive thanks to Pottermore and JK's frequent Twitter updates revealing interesting new Easter eggs.
Want to know how Harry's parents fell out with the Dursleys? Or the character she most regrets killing off? All this and more can be found out via her Twitter feed, which is fast becoming a treasure trove for fans still pining for a bit of Hogwarts in their lives.
7. She isn't afraid to stick it to ridiculous politicians
Some famous types are far too wimpy to engage in politics. Not JK.
While she speaks from her own personal life experience, JK Rowling engages with the nuts and bolts of the policies she's criticising, with no better example than her deconstruction of prime minister David Cameron's plans to offer extra tax relief to married couples.
"Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say 'it's not the money, it's the message,'" she said. "If Mr Cameron's only practical advice to women living in poverty, the sole carers of their children, is, 'Get married, and we'll give you £150', he reveals himself to be completely ignorant of their true situation."
8. She gives absolutely tonnes of her money away
Despite the Harry Potter franchise taking in more than $25 billion and Rowling herself becoming the world's first female billionaire novelist, JK saw herself turfed off Forbes' Billionaires list back in 2012 because she gives too much of her cash away – not just to good causes, such as multiple sclerosis sufferers, tackling illiteracy and children's warfare, but the tax man, too.
Forbes magazine said: "New information about Rowling's estimated $160 million (£101 million) in charitable giving combined with Britain's high tax rates bumped the Harry Potter scribe from our list."
9. Despite this, she continues to stay in Britain and sets an example to all celebrity tax-dodgers
As JK herself said to The Times:
"A second reason, however, was that I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major's Government, was there to break the fall.
"I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism. On the available evidence, I suspect that it is Lord Ashcroft's idea of being a mug."
Amen.
Contributions from Simon Reynolds, Matt Hill, David Moynihan and Mayer Nissim.
