{"id":27,"date":"2025-06-23T13:24:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T18:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aorfield.soisweb.uwm.edu\/stephen_king\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2025-06-23T13:37:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T18:37:54","slug":"background","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aorfield.soisweb.uwm.edu\/stephen_king\/background\/","title":{"rendered":"Background"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:37px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stephen King, born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, had a difficult early life. After his father abandoned the family when King was just two, his mother raised him and his brother under financial hardship, moving often and depending on relatives. King showed an early interest in storytelling, beginning by copying comic books and then creating his own stories. Encouraged by his mother and relatives, he developed a strong love for reading and writing. Books like <em>Lord of the Flies<\/em> and <em>The Shrinking Man<\/em> had a profound impact on him. He attended Lisbon High School and later the University of Maine, where he met his future wife, Tabitha Spruce, and honed his craft under the guidance of mentors like Burton Hatlen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">King\u2019s writing career took off in 1973 when his first novel, <em>Carrie<\/em>, was published. It was a commercial success, and the sale of the paperback rights marked the beginning of his rise to literary fame. Over the next decade, King became a household name with bestselling novels such as <em>The Shining<\/em>, <em>The Stand<\/em>, and <em>Pet Sematary<\/em>, which established him as a master of horror. He also published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman to test whether his success was due to talent or name recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">King\u2019s work has been widely adapted into film and television, with hits like <em>The Shawshank Redemption<\/em>, <em>It<\/em>, and <em>Misery<\/em> becoming cultural staples. His <em>Dark Tower<\/em> series further expanded his literary universe and linked many of his novels together. In 1999, he survived a near-fatal accident after being struck by a van, but he continued writing despite chronic pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Stephen King is regarded as one of the most prolific and influential American authors. With over 60 novels and 200 short stories, his works have sold more than 400 million copies. Known for his deep characters, psychological insight, and vivid storytelling, King\u2019s impact on popular fiction\u2014especially horror\u2014remains unmatched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:37px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/2\/24\/Stephen_King_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2_%28cropped%29.jpg\/960px-Stephen_King_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2_%28cropped%29.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:265px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stephen King, born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, had a difficult early life. After his father abandoned the family when King was just two, his mother raised him and his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Background - Stephen King<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Background - Stephen King\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stephen King, born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, had a difficult early life. 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