The literary agent who launched JK Rowling to international stardom has passed away, his representatives said last night.
Christopher Little, 79, was credited with finding a publisher for Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, in 1996 after 12 major companies had turned it down.
Rumour has it that Miss Rowling, then a poor 29-year-old single mother, picked Mr Little from a list of literary agents because he sounded like a character from a children’s book.
Christopher Little, 79, was credited with finding a publisher for Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, in 1996
He received a manuscript for the first book and managed to sell it to Bloomsbury for £2,500.
In 2007 Mr Little recalled: ‘I wrote back to JK Rowling within four days of receiving the manuscript. I thought there was something really special there, although we could never have guessed what would happen to it.’
He would go on to reap millions of pounds as a result of the series’ extraordinary international success.
However, his relationship with Miss Rowling soured in 2011 when she decided to part company with his agency.
At the time, a spokesman for his agency said he was ‘disappointed and surprised’ with the move but that he ‘greatly admires her’.
Mr Little’s death was confirmed by a spokesman for his agency last night.
