Often called the “King of Horror,” writing horror, suspense, crime, science fiction, fantasy and mystery, Stephen King celebrates his birth date as Sept. 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine.

His father left the family when Stephen was two, and his mom raised him and his older brother David by herself living in Chicago, until Stephen was eleven and they moved to Durham, Maine, where his mother cared for her parents until they died.

Stephen started writing when he was six or seven, copying panels out of comic books and making up his own stories. His Aunt Gert paid him a quarter for every story he wrote. He witnessed a close friend being hit and killed by a train when he was four. He missed a lot of school as a child due to ear infections, measles and other childhood illnesses, and, while home, developed a love for reading and writing his own stories. When in school, he experienced bullying.

King attended the University of Maine on a scholarship and wrote for the student newspaper. He graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and he married Tabitha Spruce, who is also a novelist and philanthropist. King was hired as an English teacher at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine and wrote short stories for Cavalier Magazine.

In 1974, “Carrie” was published, and “Salem’s Lot” followed in 1975. King has more than 350 million book copies sold in 40 different languages around the world, and his net worth is said to be $500 million.

The Kings have three children, including daughter Naomi who is a Unitarian Universalist Church minister in Plantation, Fla. Both sons, Owen and Joseph are authors. The Kings divide their time between their three homes, one in Bangor, Maine, one in Lovell, Maine and for winter a water front mansion off the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota, Fla.

Our local library has 56 of his books for your reading enjoyment.