Stephen King

Introduction

Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947 at Portland General Hospital in Maine. He also writes under the alias Richard Bachman (Stephen King 1). He fears death, closed spaces, deformities, insects, rats, snakes and the dark (Stephen King 1). King currently has a wife, Tabitha Spruce, whom he met at college. He also has three children, Owen Phillip, Joseph Hillstrom and Naiomi Rachel and one grandchild, Ethan, son of Joseph. Stephen has one older brother, David Victor King, who is adopted and currently is living in Rochester, New Hampshire. His mother, Nellie Ruth Pillsbury died of lung cancer in 1973 at age 59. His father, Donald King, was a Captain in the Merchant Marines. He was born David Spansky, but changed his name later in life (Stephen King 1). Mr. King enjoyed a normal upbringing until one night his father had supposedly stepped out for cigarettes and never came back (King Biography 1-2). After this unfortunate event, Nellie took over the family as sole caretaker and started moving from state to state. Finally, in 1958, Nellie and the boys returned to Maine and began grammar school at Durham Elementary School (King Biography 1-2).Research: Stephen King

In literature, authors often write about the world around them. In other words, they write what they live. Take, for example, William Shakespeare. He lived through the Elizabethan Era of the Renaissance. He was a rich man and wrote mainly to please the queen, so all of his works involve a person of royalty as the main character. Another good example is George Orwell. In his classic masterpiece, "1984", he takes in all the totalitarianism during the World War II days, the era in which he lived, and exploits it by predicting what the world will be like in a few decades if the world is run by a totalitarian government. Writer's sometimes may not write about the things happening around them at the exact time they write the book, but rather relate their writings to events that happened to them in the past. Stephen King is that type of author. He takes his imaginative thoughts and adds in little tidbits that somewhat reveal his past.

In 1959, Stephen and his older brother, David, started a local newspaper called "Dave's Rag". The newspaper sold for 5 cents per issue. He then went on to high school at Lisbon High School where he earned a scholarship to the University of Maine (King Biography 1-2). Throughout his college career, Stephen had jobs as a janitor and a gas station clerk, among others (King Biography 1-2). He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in English and a high school teaching certificate (King Biography 1-2). Right out of college he married Tabitha and got a job teaching English at Hampden Academy for a mere $6,400.

While working at the school, he began his first novel, Carrie, which was purchased by Doubleday in March 1973 (King Biography 1-2). After this his career was launched. King is now a world renowned ...