A Short Biography of Stephen King

Known as the Master of Horror Stephen King as written many books and short stories in his lifetime, not to mention his one work of nonfiction. Stephen King as also written works under his pseudonym, which few seem to know is Richard Bachman. Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947 at the Maine General Hospital in Portland Maine. His parents were Donald Edwin King and Ruth Pillsbury King. Stephen being the only natural born child in the family and his older brother David having been adopted at birth two years earlier. The Kings were the typical family until one night when Donald King said he was stepping out for cigarettes and was never heard from again. (Utopianweb.com)

Ruth had two raise her two small children by herself. The closest Ruth came to criticizing her errant husband was to say that he lacked sticking power. Stephen King stated that his mother "landed on her feet scrambling. Somehow she kept things together, as women before her have done and as other women are doing now as we speak." She began working a succession of low wage jobs to support her family. They had to move often, as Ruth searched for better jobs, and they sometimes had to move in with other members of the family. (Stephen King 22)

In 1958, when Stephen King was 11 and David was 13, Ruth King realized that her parents, Guy Pillsbury and Nellie Fogg Pillsbury, who were in their eighties and in poor health, needed help. Her sisters offered Ruth an arrangement: they would all help her out financially if she would move into the modest farmhouse down a dirt road in Durham, Maine's western section, known as Methodist Corner. She would aid their ailing parents, acting as a nurse-caretaker. Stephen attended classes in a one-room schoolhouse. His teacher described him as "a smart, friendly, outgoing boy" who was always writing. He attended the old Methodist church next to his house and taught Bible school as a teenager during summer vacations. (Stephen King 36)