Stephen King

Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine, and grew up in nearby Durham after his father, Donald, left the family when King was young. He began writing stories as a child, selling them to classmates. After graduating from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, he worked as a high-school English teacher in Hampden, Maine, while writing fiction during evenings and weekends. His first published novel, “Carrie,” appeared in 1974 and transformed his career.

The novel follows Carrie White, an isolated teenager with telekinetic powers, whose religiously fanatical mother and cruel classmates contribute to a catastrophic prom-night revenge. King reportedly discarded an early draft, but his wife, Tabitha, retrieved it and encouraged him to continue. “Carrie” became a bestseller, and film adaptations, including Brian De Palma’s 1976 version starring Sissy Spacek, expanded its cultural reach.

King followed with “’Salem’s Lot,” “The Shining,” and “The Stand,” establishing recurring interests in isolated communities, supernatural evil, addiction, and moral choices. “The Shining” centers on Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who accepts a winter caretaker position at Colorado’s Overlook Hotel; the novel differs substantially from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film, although both feature the characters Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance. “The Stand,” originally published in 1978 and later expanded, depicts a pandemic that devastates society and leaves survivors divided between forces associated with Mother Abagail and Randall Flagg.

In 1986, King published “It,” a large novel about childhood trauma and memory in Derry, Maine. Its antagonist, Pennywise, often appears as a clown but is a shape-shifting entity beneath the town. King has said the book drew partly on his interest in what might lurk under bridges and in ordinary places.

His nonfiction book “On Writing” combines memoir with practical advice, including an account of his early career and the 1999 incident in which a van struck him while he was walking near his home in North Lovell, Maine. He recovered and continued publishing. King has written across horror, fantasy, crime, and science fiction, using the pen name Richard Bachman for novels such as “Rage” and “The Running Man.” In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His work has also inspired films such as “The Shawshank Redemption,” adapted from “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” and “Stand by Me,” based on “The Body.” He remains a prolific author and essayist.