American author (born 1949)
Tabitha Jane King (
née Spruce , born March 24, 1949) is an American author.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Early life
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] Candles Burning was written predominantly by
Michael McDowell , who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.
[13]
In 2023, she was the executive producer of the independent horror film The Sudbury Devil .
[14]
Social activism
King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine, such as the
Bangor Public Library board.
[15] She also served on the board of the Maine
Public Broadcasting System until 1994.
[16] 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.
[17]
She currently serves as vice president of
WZON /
WZLO /
WKIT radio stations, as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.
[15]
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)
[17]
[32]
Personal life
Tabitha and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971.
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36] They have three children: a daughter Naomi and two sons,
Joe Hill and
Owen King , who are both writers.
[37]
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
[41] (1967)
Elegy for Ike
[42] (1967)
Note 1 from Herodotus
[42] (1968)
Nonsong
[42] (1970)
The Last Vampire: A Baroque Fugue
[43] (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 .
^ 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 February 28, 2024 .
^
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 . 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 .
^ Robinson, Evalyne (November 27, 1994).
"LOST SLEEP, LOST LIFE PROPEL PENS OF KINGS THE BOOK OF REUBEN" . Daily Press . Newport News, VA. Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Slater, Joyce (February 28, 1993).
"Teenage basketball, teenage sex, and a tenor who ought to be stopped" .
Chicago Tribune . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Hall-Balduf, Susan (March 21, 1993).
"Books" . Detroit Free Press . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ Simon, Linda (March 19, 1989).
"Hester's Liberated Daughter PEARL by Tabitha King" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ 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 .
^
"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 .
^ Anstead, Alicia (October 16, 1998).
"Tabitha King wins Carlson award Author lauded for literacy efforts" . Bangor Daily News . Retrieved August 11, 2012 .
^ 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
Novels
Short fiction collections Nonfiction Screenplays Teleplays Comics Musical collaborations Anthologies edited Worlds and concepts Family Related
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