STEPHEN KING was born in Portland, Maine, in 1947. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, a public high school in Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co. accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing King with the means to leave teaching and write full time. He has since published more than 50 books and has become one of the world’s most successful writers. King is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts. He lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to several charities including many libraries, and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.
