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Tabitha King
American author (born 1949) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tabitha "Tabby" Jane King (née Spruce, born March 24, 1949) is an American author.[1][2][3]
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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)[4] and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014).[5] She attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine[6] 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.
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Career
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As of 2006, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction.[7][8] She published her first novel, Small World, through Signet Books in 1981[9] and in 2006, Candles Burning was published by Berkley Books.[10][11] The paperback rights for Small World were bought by New American Library for $165,000.[12][13] Candles Burning was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.[14]
In 2023, she was the executive producer of the independent horror film The Sudbury Devil.[15]
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.[13] 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.[16] She told him: "You've got something here. I really think you do."[17]
That began a practice that continues today: Tabitha and Stephen review each other's drafts and also those of their two sons.[13]
Reception
Reception to King's work has ranged from negative to positive.[18][19][20] Pearl received positive mentions from the Los Angeles Times and the Bangor Daily News,[21][22] while the Chicago Tribune panned Survivor.[23] The Arizona Daily Star criticized One on One, calling King "a hack",[24] whereas Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the Rocky Mountain News gave the novel positive reviews.[25][26][27] Caretakers received was lauded by The New York Times[28] and Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes made to McDowell's Candles Burning.[29]
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Awards and recognition
- Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine (May 1987)[30]
- Dowd Achievement Award (1992)[31]
- Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998)[32][33]
Social activism
King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine including the Bangor Public Library board.[34] She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994.[35] 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.[32] In 2019, Tabitha and Stephen King donated $1.25 million to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.[36]
She serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT radio stations, as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.[34] 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.[37]
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Personal life
Tabitha and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971.[38][39][40][41] They have three children: a daughter Naomi and two sons, Joe Hill (Joseph Hillstrom King) and Owen King, who are both writers.[42]
Bibliography
Novels
Nonfiction
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
Teleplay
- "The Passion of Reverend Jimmy"[a] (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
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Notes
- episode of Kingdom Hospital, co-written with Stephen King
References
Further reading
External links
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