American author (born 1949)
Tabitha "Tabby " Jane King (née Spruce , born March 24, 1949) is an American author.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
Early life
Born in Old Town, Maine , Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane Spruce (née White; December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007)[ 4] and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014).[ 5] King attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine [ 6] before enrolling at the University of Maine , 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.[ 7] [ 8] She published her first novel, Small World , through Signet Books in 1981,[ 9] and in 2006, Candles Burning was published through 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]
This began a practice that continues today: Tabitha and Stephen review each other's drafts and also those of their children.[ 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 positive praise by The New York Times ,[ 28] while Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes made to McDowell's Candles Burning .[ 29]
Awards and recognition
Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine in Orono (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, such as 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 donated $1.25M to the New England Historic Genealogical Society .[ 36]
She currently 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]
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 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
A Gradual Canticle for Augustine [ 46] (1967)
Elegy for Ike [ 47] (1967)
Note 1 from Herodotus [ 47] (1968)
Nonsong [ 47] (1970)
The Last Vampire: A Baroque Fugue [ 48] (1971)
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
Notes
References
^ Dooley, Jeff (June 2, 1985). "Terror Mistress Tabitha King Spins A Thriller" . Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
^ Forsberg, Helen (March 28, 1993). "ONE ON ONE WITH TABITHA KING HORROR WRITER'S WIFE CARVES LITERARY NICHE" . THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Keyes, Bob (June 4, 2006). "Tabitha King's passion burns brightly" . Maine Sunday Telegram . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ "Sarah Jane Spruce" . December 7, 1923.
^ "Raymond George Spruce" . May 29, 2014.
^ Beahm, George (September 1998). Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work . Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8362-6914-7 .
^ Ketner, Lisa (October 17, 1994). "Tabitha King Fans Meet Author". Sun Journal .
^ Anstead, Alicia (March 16, 1993). "Tabitha King in the Limelight" . Bangor Daily News . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Donovan, Mark. "For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha; Now She Burns to Write, Too" . People . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Sullivan, James (June 4, 2006). "Drama Queen" . Boston Globe . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Copeland, Blythe (June 2007). "Stepping Out of a Big Shadow" . Writer's Digest . Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Guckenberger, Katherine (May 10, 1981). "Tabitha King novel fails to shine" . Journal and Courier . p. 56. Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ a b c "Stephen King and Tabitha King: All About Their Decades-Long Romance" . People.com . Retrieved October 17, 2024 .
^ Drew, Bernard A. (2009). Literary Afterlife: The Posthumous Continuations of 325 Authors' Fictional Characters . McFarland & Company. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-7864-4179-2 .
^ Hubbard, El Rob (December 21, 2023). "366 UNDERGROUND: THE SUDBURY DEVIL (2023)" . 366 Weird Movies . Retrieved July 19, 2024 .
^ King, Tabitha, Introduction to Carrie (Collector's Edition) Plume 1991
^ King, Stephen (2000). On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft . pp. 75– 77.
^ Robinson, Evalyne (November 27, 1994). "LOST SLEEP, LOST LIFE PROPEL PENS OF KINGS THE BOOK OF REUBEN" . Daily Press . Newport News, VA. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Slater, Joyce (February 28, 1993). "Teenage basketball, teenage sex, and a tenor who ought to be stopped" . Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Hall-Balduf, Susan (March 21, 1993). "Books" . Detroit Free Press . Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Simon, Linda (March 19, 1989). "Hester's Liberated Daughter PEARL by Tabitha King" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 11, 2012 . [dead link ]
^ Beaulieu, Janet (November 8, 1988). " 'Pearl' gleams as both a character and novel" . Bangor Daily News . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Fallik, Dawn (May 8, 1997). "TABITHA KING'S 'SURVIVOR' FAILS TO RING TRUE" . Chicago Tribune . Retrieved August 11, 2012 . [dead link ]
^ "Tabitha King's 'One' is the work of a hack" . Arizona Daily Star . May 2, 1993. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Hajari, Nisid. "Review: One on One" . Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Skow, John (February 22, 1993). "Home Games" . Time . Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Graham, Mark (April 4, 1993). "THE 'OTHER' KING COMES INTO HER OWN" . Rocky Mountain News . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Bass, Judy (October 23, 1983). "Fiction in Brief" . New York Times . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Hartlaub, Joe. "Candles Burning" . Bookreporter.com. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ "Tabitha King" . Bangorpedia . Archived from the original on June 15, 2014.
^ "Tabitha And Stephen King To Receive Chamber's 1992 Award " . Bangor Daily News . November 13, 1991. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ a b Rogers, Lisa (January 1, 1999). "Maine awards new prize to novelist Tabitha King". Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities .
^ Anstead, Alicia (October 16, 1998). "Tabitha King wins Carlson award Author lauded for literacy efforts" . Bangor Daily News . Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ a b "122nd Legislature celebrates National Women's History Month March 2005: Tabitha King (b. 1949)" . Maine Senate . March 2005. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008 .
^ Garland, Nancy (December 3, 1994). "Tabitha King quits as trustee MPBC controversy grows since program" . Bangor Daily News . Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Reporter, Dory Jackson Culture (February 28, 2019). "Who is Tabitha King, Stephen King's Author Wife?" . Newsweek . Retrieved October 17, 2024 .
^ "Top Giving Foundations: ME" . The Grantsmanship Center . Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2015 .
^ King, Stephen. "Stephen King on Twitter: "A couple of kids got married 48 years ago today. So far it's worked out pretty well. Still in love." " . Twitter . Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019 .
^ Beahm, George (October 6, 2015). The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror . Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-250-08131-5 . Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ Donovan, Mark (May 18, 1981). "For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha; Now She Burns to Write, Too" . People . Vol. 15, no. 19. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ Forsberg, Helen (March 28, 1993). "One on one with Tabitha King" . The Salt Lake Tribune . p. 53. Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ Vincent, Bev. "Onyx interviews: Tabitha King" . Onyx. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Keyes, Bob (June 4, 2006). "Tabitha King's Passion Burns Brightly" . Portland Press Herald . p. 37. Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ Rimer, Sara (March 11, 1995). "Orono Journal; In Maine, Being 'Good' Is Praise Enough for a Star" . The New York Times . Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ Marsh, Dave (1994). Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude . Viking. ISBN 9780670852345 . Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ King, Stephen (2012). On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft . Hodder. ISBN 978-1-4447-2325-0 . Retrieved October 1, 2022 .
^ a b c "Book Details" .
^ "Stephen & Tabitha King Poems, Contraband #2, Rare '71 | #176356658" .
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. 2011.
External links
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