Twenty years ago today, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published.

Somewhere in late 1999 or early 2000 (I honestly don’t remember quite when, but the experience sticks with me), I picked up a paperback copy of Sorcerer’s Stone (oh, how I still wish, all these years later, they just went with the original title and didn’t assume -likely correctly- that Americans were idiots) on the way to an appointment so I’d have something to read in the waiting room, based largely on the burgeoning hype these stories were generating.

I got started with it that afternoon, and I’m pretty sure I finished it in a couple of hours, and immediately grabbed the other two books that were available at the time (I’m dating my recollection based on the September ’99 first publication of Azkaban), and from then on, I was pretty much hooked.

Sure, I was an “adult” who didn’t grow up with the series like so many other fans did, but I played along with the community going to midnight release parties, posting and discussing theories of what was happening next online and in person (especially with my lovely wife, who went right down the rabbit hole with me), and perhaps most significantly, catching Harry and the Potters at a free library show on a mid-week afternoon in DC on a lark some time in 2006-2007 (I honestly can’t remember anymore), which, at least indirectly, led to my discovering “wizard rock” and eventually finding a much beloved community and creative outlet as I got myself hooked up with The Blibbering Humdingers, who I first met (according to my blog archives) in 2010, and have been playing bass and assorted other instruments with for most of the last five years(!).

My association with Scott and Kirsten (two of the most wonderful and creative people I have the pleasure of knowing) led to my own personal initiation into a larger world (sound familiar? that’s intentional) of both wrock and nerd/geek music in general, where I’ve made some very dear friends and have gotten to have all kinds of wonderful and novel experiences that wouldn’t have been possible if not for a certain book published with little fanfare, written a single mother living on public assistance who jotted the whole business down while hanging out in a coffee shop in Edinbugh.

So, thanks Ms. Rowling, for giving the world something that ended up meaning a lot to so many people, and that led me, personally, to find such wonderful community and outlets for creativity that bring me so much joy.