Monday, June 1, 2009

Trials of a “Kings” Life


Daddy Done Left


One of the first major significant events that affected Stephen King and have helped shape him into the person he is today would be when his father Donald King walked out on the family. Even though he was only two at the time it affected him in many ways. Stephen's mother, Ruth King, had to support the family by working many menial jobs. The family would stay with different relatives until they wore out there welcome. It was during these times that Stephen's unique relatives would fill his head with stories of ghosts and bizarre occurrences. He would remember these tales and they eventually made it into his many successful stories, some of the tales were even told by Ruth. Stephen never got over his father abandoning the family, and has always been haunted by the void left by his father. This abandonment has affected his childhood, marriage and his books. Often the fathers in his books are abusive, alcoholics, scary or evil but in some way they are still there for the child, unlike his father.


Pennywise to $400,000


After many years of poverty, rejections and disappointments the big break finally came. In 1973, as a struggling family man Stephen received the news that Doubleday wanted to publish his book Carrie. He would receive an advance of $2500, the largest amount of money he had ever seen. Eventually Doubleday sold the paperback rights; Steve's share would be $200,000. This amount allowed Stephen to quit his teaching job and concentrate full time on writing. The movie Carrie went on to make over $30,000,000. Since the release of Carrie, King has had over 60 novels and short stories published; he has also been involved in big screen movies as well as television projects. His success from Carrie rocketed him to fame and has allowed him to share his wealth with many unfortunate people as well as various charities and organizations.


Jack Torrence to My Pretty Pony


In the late 1980's, Tabitha admitted to herself that Stephen was an addict, and that he needed serious help. His addiction to cocaine and alcohol left him feeling immortal and he would often have suicidal thoughts. After spending years addicted to cocaine and alcohol and having a successful career in this drug induced state Steve was very apprehensive about ending his addiction. He thought if he became sober that he would no longer be able to write, as he thought many of his ideas were the result of his addictions. Steve went cold turkey for two weeks to successfully overcome his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Tabitha was able to help him with his writing one word at a time, and with a clear head he was able to fuel his addictive tendency with writing. As a result he has published many successful books, wrote the story "My Pretty Pony" for his daughter, and received an award from National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.



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