Author Paparazzi

I'm not a household name, yet, so I can't even dream of having paparazzi following me to the grocery store, but watching Joan Rivers on The Fashion Police for The Grammy's got me wondering where are all the best dressed authors in the news? I was curious to see how much paparazzi litter I could find floating around the Internet concerning popular authors, so I Googled two big names, J.K. Rowling and Stephen King.

It seems that Ms. Rowling has had her encounters with the paparazzi, but her concern over the years has been directed towards her children, not herself. In August of 2001, Ms. Rowling was outraged at photos of her eight-year-old daughter being taken without her consent on vacation in Mauritius, according to reporter James Morrison of Independent Media.

Here is the complete article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-long-hot-summer-of-the-paparazzi-665489.html

Then in March of 2008 J.K. Rowling went back to court over a dispute of a photo of her four-year-old son, David. She claimed he was harmed during the taking of the picture and was seeking damages and banning of further publication of the photograph in question, after settling with the newspaper out of court.

You can read the full article here:

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/author-jk-rowling-back-in-court-over-paparazzi-picture_1062129

According to The Paparazzi Reform Initiative, she won that case in May of 2008.

Apparently, The King of Horror has also had his run-ins with the paparazzi as well. He had this to say in his Entertainment Weekly Interview in 2007 on his own experiences:

Let's get one thing straight, okay? In that strange, vulgar, brightly colored section of the popular culture known as Celebrity World, the paparazzi are the lowest form of human life. I have been touched by them only peripherally, and it's been years since I really engaged their flea-like attention, yet recalling their exuberant shouts — ''Hey, Stephen, look over here! Stephen, just one more! Hey, Stephen, where ya goin'?'' — is still enough to make my skin prickle with shame and fury. The intrusion is part of it, the sense of entitlement is more of it, but the constant bray of your first name is the worst of it. They use your first name the way the cops on The Shield do when they're interviewing child molesters.

My conclusion: The paparazzi do follow big name authors, but I couldn't find any of them on the best or worst dressed lists. Until I hit the bestseller list I'm safe going through a drive thru late at night in my skull and cherry pajamas and I won't be mobbed at the grocery store.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!