Tabitha King

Tabitha "Tabby" Jane King (Template:Née Spruce, born March 24, 1949) is an American author.<ref>Dooley, Jeff (June 2, 1985). "Terror Mistress Tabitha King Spins A Thriller". Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved August 11, 2012.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Early life

Born in Old Town, Maine, Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane née White (December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> before enrolling at the University of Maine in Orono where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library.

Career

As of 2006, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She published her first novel, Small World, through Signet Books in 1981<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2006, Candles Burning was published by Berkley Books.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The paperback rights for Small World were bought by New American Library for $165,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Candles Burning was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2023, she was the executive producer of the independent horror film The Sudbury Devil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Partnership with Stephen King

Prior to her husband's commercial success, Tabitha worked extra shifts at Dunkin' Donuts so that Stephen could write full-time.<ref name=":0" /> As Stephen King recalled the origin of his debut novel, Carrie: "Two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis, came together." It began as a short story intended for Cavalier; Stephen tossed the first three pages in the trash but Tabitha recovered them, saying she wanted to know what happened next. He followed her advice and expanded it into a novel.<ref>King, Tabitha, Introduction to Carrie (Collector's Edition) Plume 1991</ref> She told him: "You've got something here. I really think you do."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

That began a practice that continues today: Tabitha and Stephen review each other's drafts and also those of their two sons.<ref name=":0" />

Reception

Reception to King's work has ranged from negative to positive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Pearl received positive mentions from the Los Angeles Times and the Bangor Daily News,<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the Chicago Tribune panned Survivor.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> The Arizona Daily Star criticized One on One, calling King "a hack",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> whereas Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the Rocky Mountain News gave the novel positive reviews.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Caretakers was lauded by The New York Times for its characterization of its protagonists.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2006, King completed and published Michael McDowell's final novel, Candles Burning, to mixed reviews. Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes King made to McDowell's original.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and recognition

• Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine (May 1987)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Dowd Achievement Award (1992)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998)<ref name="ConstanceAward">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Social activism

King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine including the Bangor Public Library board.<ref name="MaineLegislature">Template:Cite web</ref> She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1998 she received the inaugural Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize, the Maine Humanities Council's highest award, for her work with literacy for the state of Maine.<ref name="ConstanceAward" /> In 2019, Tabitha and Stephen King donated $1.25 million to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT radio stations, as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.<ref name="MaineLegislature" /> The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, chaired by her and her husband, ranks sixth among Maine charities in terms of average annual giving, with over $2.8 million in grants per year, according to The Grantsmanship Center.<ref name="Grantsmanship">Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Tabitha and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They have three children: a daughter Naomi and two sons, Joe Hill (Joseph Hillström King) and Owen King, who are both writers.<ref name="Vincent">Template:Cite web</ref>

Bibliography

Novels

Year	Title	Publisher	ISBN	Pages	Note
1981	Small World	Signet Books	Template:ISBN	312
1983	Caretakers	Scribner's	Template:ISBN	274	First novel set in King's fictional community of Nodd's Ridge
1986	The Trap		Template:ISBN	352	Also published as Wolves at the Door; second novel set in Nodd's Ridge
1988	Pearl	Signet Books	Template:ISBN	368	Third novel set in Nodd's Ridge
1993	One on One		Template:ISBN	528	Fourth novel set in Nodd's Ridge
1994	The Book of Reuben		Template:ISBN	432	Fifth and last novel set in King's fictional community of Nodd's Ridge
1997	Survivor		Template:ISBN	496
2006	Candles Burning	Berkley Publishing Group	Template:ISBN	423	With Michael McDowell, King continued her writing after McDowell's death in 1999<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Nonfiction

Year	Title	Publisher	ISBN	Pages	Note
1994	Playing Like a Girl; Cindy Blodgett and the Lawrence Bulldogs Season of 93-94	Dendrite Corporation	N/A	42	The work is about basketball player Cindy Blodgett during her time at Lawrence High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude	Berkley Publishing Group	Template:ISBN	222	Written by all of the Rock Bottom Remainders with photos by Tabitha King<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Short stories

• The Blue Chair (1981)
• The Demonstration (1985)
• Road Kill (1986)
• Djinn and Tonic (1998)
• The Women's Room (2002)
• Archie Smith, Boy Wonder (2011)

Poetry

• A Gradual Canticle for Augustine<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (1967)
• Elegy for Ike<ref name="abebooks.com">Template:Cite web</ref> (1967)
• Note 1 from Herodotus<ref name="abebooks.com" /> (1968)
• Nonsong<ref name="abebooks.com" /> (1970)
• The Last Vampire: A Baroque Fugue<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (1971)

Teleplay

• "The Passion of Reverend Jimmy"Template:Efn (2004)

Contributions and compilations

• Murderess Ink: The Better Half of the Mystery, Dilys Winn, ed., Bell, 1979
• Shadows, Volume 4, C. L. Grant, ed., Doubleday, 1981
• Midlife Confidential, ed. David Marsh et al., photographs by Tabitha King, Viking Penguin, 1994

Further reading

• Mcaleer, Patrick; The Writing Family of Stephen King: A Critical Study of the Fiction of Tabitha King, Joe Hill and Owen King; McFarland & Company, 2011

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:ISFDB name
• Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation
• Joseph Hillstrom King
• Owen Phillip King