Stephen King

Author profile

born

in Portland, Maine, The United States

September 21, 1947

gender

male

website

http://www.stephenking.com/

genre

Horror, Mystery, Literature & Fiction

influences

Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft, Richard M ...more

About this author

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

163 posts
Stephen King's Blog

Stephen King isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

Extended UTD Trailer on YouTube

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Stephen King's Books

Average rating: 3.90 · 4,443,558 ratings · 131,314 reviews · 896 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Shining 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 381,212 ratings — published 1977 — 139 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Stand by Stephen King, Bernie Wrightson (Illustrator) 4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 avg rating — 211,707 ratings — published 1978 — 127 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	It 4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 180,887 ratings — published 1986 — 99 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Misery 3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 150,974 ratings — published 1987 — 100 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) 3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 avg rating — 149,842 ratings — published 1982 — 105 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Carrie 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 142,354 ratings — published 1974 — 134 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pet Sematary 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 136,769 ratings — published 1983 — 102 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Salem's Lot 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 123,301 ratings — published 1975 — 126 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	11/22/63 4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 100,756 ratings — published 2011 — 73 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Green Mile 4.36 of 5 stars 4.36 avg rating — 91,260 ratings — published 1996 — 96 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Stephen King…

Series by Stephen King

The Dark Tower (7 books)
by Stephen King
4.080487192835928 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 533,998 ratings

The Shining (2 books)
by Stephen King
4.001083878553114 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 381,039 ratings

The Green Mile (7 books)
by Stephen King
4.3843376297753185 of 5 stars 4.38 avg rating — 133,211 ratings

The Talisman (2 books)
by Stephen King, Peter Straub (Goodreads Author)
4.02829110946845 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 74,405 ratings

Under the dome (1 book)
by Stephen King
3.874552700065062 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 73,776 ratings

More series by Stephen King…

Upcoming Events

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Quotes by Stephen King

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King

tags: reading, writing

6,058 people liked it

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing

tags: books, magic, reading

5,992 people liked it

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
― Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption

tags: life

5,197 people liked it

See all Stephen King's quotes »

Polls

What frequently challenged or banned adult-themed book should we read in January and February?

[Note: if you want to see different books in the polls, suggest some!]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

10 votes, 29.4%

The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire

7 votes, 20.6%

1984 by George Orwell

4 votes, 11.8%

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

4 votes, 11.8%

Carrie by Stephen King

3 votes, 8.8%

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

3 votes, 8.8%

Native Son by Richard Wright

2 votes, 5.9%

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

1 vote, 2.9%

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

0 votes, 0.0%

My House by Nikki Giovanni

0 votes, 0.0%

34 total votes

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100+ Books in 2013: Jennifer D's 100 of 08	10	131	Dec 30, 2008 03:28pm
Goodreads Librari...: Combine Question	8	185	Jan 15, 2009 11:35am
75 Books: Authors you love	17	968	Jan 27, 2009 04:14am
Glens Falls (NY) ...: Favorite Author's Book Recommendations	55	147	Feb 03, 2009 10:47am

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Stephen King

Author profile

163 posts
Stephen King's Blog

combine editions
Stephen King's Books

Series by Stephen King

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Stephen King

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add NewVideos

Stephen's Fans (26879)

Stephen King

Author profile

163 postsStephen King's Blog

combine editionsStephen King's Books

Series by Stephen King

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Stephen King

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

163 posts
Stephen King's Blog

combine editions
Stephen King's Books