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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Readers Choice 2006 Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Our Valley Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend October 14, 2006 Lemony Snicket's series comes to an unfortunate 'end'? By Joseph V. Amodio Special to Newsday Readers still devour Lemony Snicket's tales of the Baudelaire orphans, even though he begs them not to. It's an unusual sales tactic — that works. Anyone needing proof of this could have stood back and watched the hordes of kids, tweens and teens in stores Friday. That was the day "The End" — the 13th and last of Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events" — went on sale nationwide. "Friday the 13th is just too good a date, isn't it?" asks Peter Glassman, owner of Books of Wonder in Manhattan. Poor Mr. Glassman. You'd think he'd be tearing his hair out. HarperCollins' series has sold 50 million copies since "The Bad Beginning" debuted in 1999. Kids love the books, with clue-filled artwork and droll, didactic prose. Snicket, as narrator, often stops to explain intriguing terms: dowager, inner sanctum, dramatic irony. And the warnings to stop reading? ("If I were you I would drop this book at once," Snicket advises on the back cover, "so 'The End' does not finish you.") Right. Keep out of the cookie jar, too. Advertisement In a world where book sales are flat, booksellers can't be pleased with his farewell. Especially given that J.K. Rowling's final Harry Potter book sits gloomily on the horizon. But is "The End" really the end? And while we're asking, who is Lemony Snicket? The Baudelaires — inventor Violet, bookworm Klaus and infant Sunny — are kid-lit stars. According to Publishers Weekly, last year's top-selling children's books were "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (13.5 million copies) and Snicket's "The Penultimate Peril" (nearly 2 million). Fantasy titles like these took off in the late 1990s and have been booming ever since, says Diane Roback, children's book editor at Publishers Weekly. Industry pundits have been anticipating the trend's demise. But like Count Olaf, the orphans' archnemesis, it just won't die. The end of Snicket and Potter "won't kill the genre," Roback says. "Fantasy is still popular, and it'll be a long time before anything takes its place." Thank Mr. Snicket. Harry Potter may have started the trend, but Snicket proved others could keep it going. Keeping Snicket going is the job of Daniel Handler, 36, the real-life writer who dreamed up this alter ego. He's a married father who lives in San Francisco. But back in the 1990s, he was an aspiring novelist and freelance writer living in Manhattan. At literary-agency parties, he'd find himself sitting in a corner with Susan Rich, his agent's assistant's girlfriend. Rich eventually joined HarperCollins, and asked him to pitch some children's book ideas. Handler recalled a silly name he'd once dreamed up — and wrote a pitch for a three-book series. HarperCollins bought four. Rich sounds like she still can't believe it: "We thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we could make it to 13?' " "That's what's so strange," says Handler. "I did what I said I was going to do. It's so unlike me. It's like a boy who says he's going to grow up to be Spider-Man — and does." Rich hopes other writers follow Handler's lead. If Snicket has any legacy, it's to encourage more tales as unlike Snicket as possible: "There's room for the unexpected and groundbreaking." That's the upside to seeing a popular series end, Glassman says: "It makes room for the next great thing." Which is ... ? "The kids will know it first," Rich says. "Everyone is waiting for that." Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Windermere Van Vleet Men's Clothing Southern Oregon Loans --> GMAT Prep Fundraisers Send Flowers Texas Electric Choice Entertainment Guide --> Casinos Canada Trunks, Footlocker Online Casino Reviews Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com