Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21st, 1947 in Portland, Maine to parents Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King and Donald Edwin King. Stephen King never really knew his father. He left him when he was two years old. The story his mother remembers is that Donald went to get some cigarettes and never came back. Stephen sat down with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. for the show Finding Your Roots and Stephen was shown a picture of his father. Donald’s name wasn’t King, it was Pollock. Donald Edwin Pollock. Stephen King had an older brother, David, who was adopted. Stephen moved around a bit, to Fort Wayne, Indiana and to Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven he moved back to Durham, Maine for good.

Stephen King graduated from Lisbon Falls High School in 1966. Stephen then went to the University of Maine. Stephen participated in activities, he wrote for the school newspaper and he was part of the student government. Stephen wrote his first short story in school which appeared in Startling Mystery Stories. Stephen King graduated from college with a degree in English in 1970. Stephen wanted to become a teacher but didn’t do too well, so he found work in a laundry. When he wasn’t working at the laundry, he would write stories. Then he became a teacher in 1971 at Hampden Academy. That was the same year he married Tabitha Spruce.

Stephen married Tabitha Spruce and they had three children; Naomi, Joe, and Owen. Joe became an author like his father, and they sometimes collaborated. Joe Hillstrom King (his pen name is Joe Hill) wrote some books such as Horns, Locke and Key, Best New Horror, The Fireman, My Father’s Mask, Abraham’s Boys and much more. Joe married Riley Dixon in 1999 but they divorced in 2010. Joe is currently married to Leanora King. Joe also has a son named Ethan King. Stephen’s youngest, Owen, is currently married to Kelly Braffet. Owen is also an author. Some books he wrote are Intro to Alien Invasion, Double Feature: A Novel and We’re all in this Together. Stephen’s daughter, Naomi, is married to Rev. Dr. Thandeka. Naomi is a Unitarian Universalist minister. Naomi also has an illness. She has a degenerative condition, so she relies on a wheelchair. Tabitha King is also an author.

Stephen King is probably the best horror author, some even call him “The Master of Horror”. Stephen has tips for authors on how to write a good book. On the website Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers it explains these tips. To see the tips click on the link below to go to the website.

This is the link to the website in which I got the twenty tips of Stephen King.

“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”

-Stephen King