A Timeline Noting the Significant Events in Knowles’s Life and Career

1971
Knowles was born in Austin, TX. During his childhood, his parents began collecting and selling comics and movie memorabilia.

1983
Knowles’s parents divorced. Knowles moved with his mother to Seymour, TX, an isolated town on the plains northeast of Fort Worth. The nearest movie theatre was 55 miles away. However, in her divorce, Knowles’s mother took possession of the comics, paperback novels, videos, and movie memorabilia that she and her ex-husband had amassed in their work. In Seymour, Knowles began exploring this “massive treasure trove” of pop culture.

1989
Knowles moved back to Austin to attend community college. He began working with his father in the movie collectibles and memorabilia trade. Knowles eventually dropped out of college before earning a degree.

1995
In late 1995, Knowles began writing for the Drudge Report, Matt Drudge’s Web site for political and cultural news. Knowles writes in his memoir that he learned a great deal in the several months he worked for Drudge—namely, “what kind of stories register with the public” and “how to frame a story to get people interested in both it and you” (Knowles 81).

1996
Knowles was seriously injured when he was hit with a 6-ton runaway dolly. For the next several months, he was confined to bed. As he recovered, he began to explore Internet Web sites and chat rooms. Soon Knowles established his Web site, Ain’t It Cool News, posting movie reviews, insider gossip, and other personal reflections. The Web site was soon praised by Hollywood notables including Quentin Tarantino. Soon the Web site was getting more than 300,000 hits each day. People from all over the world began e-mailing Knowles with fresh movie gossip.

1997
Knowles star began to rise. Articles about him appeared in Entertainment Weekly, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

1998
Knowles began receiving the privileges of a Hollywood insider. He was asked to serve as a judge at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Movie studios also began flying him around the country to visit sets, attend premieres, and meet stars.

2000
David Weddle published an extended critique of Knowles and his work in the Los Angeles Times. Ron Wells published an even more extensive and impassioned critique of Knowles and Ain’t It Cool News in the online journal Film Threat.

2002
Knowles published his memoir, Ain’t It Cool? Hollywood’s Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out.

Source: Knowles, Harry, and Paul Cullum and Mark Ebner. Ain’t It Cool? Hollywood’s Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out. New York: Warner Books, 2002.

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