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Accllaimed author Stephen King in 1980. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/comments/dt28my/i_work_at_a_newspaper_and_stumbled_across_this/ (May be subject to copyright) |
Author Stephen King has written 61 books – so far,
That was just one of the interesting things I learned when my spouse and I watched “King on Screen” yesterday. It’s a documentary of the movies, TV shows and miniseries made from his books, told by the directors and producers who made them.
It was really interesting, reminding me of how I first came across the prolific writer, the movies I saw made from his stories, and what I have learned from him as a writer.
What are you reading?
As long as I can remember, my sister was always reading. Especially when I was younger, she always had a book with her, and was often in her room reading. Alternatively, she would read outside in the summer while she sun tanned. One Sunday afternoon on a sunny day in winter, she even read on the back of our grain truck which was flat, smooth and fully in the sun.
As long as I can remember, my sister was always reading. Especially when I was younger, she always had a book with her, and was often in her room reading. Alternatively, she would read outside in the summer while she sun tanned. One Sunday afternoon on a sunny day in winter, she even read on the back of our grain truck which was flat, smooth and fully in the sun.
Often I would look at the book she was reading, and I still recall some of the authors – Ken Follett, Robert Ludlum, James Clavell.
And Stephen King. There was a lot of Stephen King, as I recall.
Story time
My sister is also really good at describing the subject of a book she is reading without getting bogged down in detail. It's a skill I have yet to learn. So, although I have not read any Stephen King novels, I can list off a whole bunch.
There is “Firestarter” about a girl with the ability to start fires with her mind.
My sister is also really good at describing the subject of a book she is reading without getting bogged down in detail. It's a skill I have yet to learn. So, although I have not read any Stephen King novels, I can list off a whole bunch.
There is “Firestarter” about a girl with the ability to start fires with her mind.
And “Cujo” about a rabid dog terrorizing the people around him.
“The Shining” about the spookie goings-on at a mansion or hotel
“The Dead Zone”, about a man who wakes up from a coma and discovers he has strange powers.
“Salem’s Lot”, about vampires.
“The Stand”, about the world being wiped out by a disease and what the surviving people do.
“Pet Semetary” about, well a place where dead pets are buried and come back to life.
“Different Seasons”, which was a collection of four stories or, as I later discovered, novellas.
And “Christine”, about a haunted car.
Heard it before
By the time I reached high school, my sister still came out to the farm to visit virtually every Sunday, but she wasn’t bringing books with her anymore. That’s where my knowledge of Stephen King stopped.
By the time I reached high school, my sister still came out to the farm to visit virtually every Sunday, but she wasn’t bringing books with her anymore. That’s where my knowledge of Stephen King stopped.
Then, in Grade 10, my good friend David Perlich, who was always a voracious reader, got into a lot of science fiction and horror. He would always share what he was reading at the time – Arthur C. Clarke, Jacob Varley, and Robert Heinlein were some of the authors.
And then there was Stephen King. David loved Stephen King and the type of horror stories he wrote. As he talked about “The Stand” and “The Dead Zone”, “Cujo” and “Firestarter”, “Christine” and “Pet Semetary”, it was like hearing my story all over again.
I had seen this movie before – metaphorically – and it was pretty cool.
Career-starter
However, there was one book I had not heard about from my sister – “Carrie”. Oh, I had heard about it as a scary movie starring a very young Sissy Spacek with a bloody high school prom scene at the end, but nothing about the book.
However, there was one book I had not heard about from my sister – “Carrie”. Oh, I had heard about it as a scary movie starring a very young Sissy Spacek with a bloody high school prom scene at the end, but nothing about the book.
Perlich told me that book gave Stephen King his start. He had written “Carrie” and sent it out to as many publishers as he could find, and it was rejected by every one of them. Finally, he just threw it in the garbage.
The story could have easily ended there, but King’s wife Tabitha wouldn’t stand for that. She fished the manuscript out of the garbage and sent it to another publisher. This one bought it, and King was off.
It is a story I have heard many times since. However, I heard it first from David Perlich, sitting in the row beside him in Social Studies 30 in the first semester of Grade 12, back in 1986.
I read it for the articles – really
Perlich told me another story in Social class around that time. He was looking around for old issues of “Playboy” magazine. He knew I loved digging around for used books, and found some in different places beyond used book stores, such as garage sales and flea markets.
Perlich told me another story in Social class around that time. He was looking around for old issues of “Playboy” magazine. He knew I loved digging around for used books, and found some in different places beyond used book stores, such as garage sales and flea markets.
I laughed because I didn’t think Perlich was into that kind of magazine, and I told him so.
“Oh, I want them for the articles,” he said. Then he kind of stopped and realized how it sounded.
“No really,” he continued.
It turned out, Stephen King had written a story called “The Dark Tower” and it was published in several parts in “Playboy” magazine.
I guess Dave really was reading it for the articles.
King on screen
By the 1980s, Stephen King’s work had found its way onto the screen, with mixed success. “Firestarter” starred Drew Barrymore in the title role in a theatrical release, while “The Shining” was a hit with Jack Nicholson at his creepy best. “Dead Zone”, “Christine”, “Cujo”, “Pet Semetary”, and “Maximum Overdrive” had also been made into movies.
By the 1980s, Stephen King’s work had found its way onto the screen, with mixed success. “Firestarter” starred Drew Barrymore in the title role in a theatrical release, while “The Shining” was a hit with Jack Nicholson at his creepy best. “Dead Zone”, “Christine”, “Cujo”, “Pet Semetary”, and “Maximum Overdrive” had also been made into movies.
I did not see any of these, but saw some of his other work made into movies that I really enjoyed.
The first story was “Silver Bullet” starring Gary Busey, about a werewolf. I saw that with my cousins Fred and Vince at the place of a friend of theirs in the summer of 1986.
The second was “Stand by Me”, with my best friend Chris Vining on our family farm in the spring of 1987. We rented it one night, watching it after a shift at the greenhouse we worked at together.
The third was “The Running Man” in 1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a combatant in a lethal game show of the future. What made that movie cool was long-time gameshow host Richard Dawson plays the slightly demented host of the game show in “The Running Man”.
Heard but not seen
A movie I never saw but heard about, again in Brooks, was “Children of the Corn”. My Aunt Monica read it, and her son, my cousin Henry, told me about the movie. It involves a possessed group of children living in a corn field in Nebraska.
A movie I never saw but heard about, again in Brooks, was “Children of the Corn”. My Aunt Monica read it, and her son, my cousin Henry, told me about the movie. It involves a possessed group of children living in a corn field in Nebraska.
Another movie I have never seen, but heard a lot about was “Misery” in 1989. I was in my third year of university, living on Main Kelsey in student residence at the University of Alberta, and it was around Christmas time. One of the guys from my floor came back one night, raving about “Misery”. It is about a writer, played by James Caan, who is involved in a crash, and rescued by a crazed fan, played by Kathy Bates. She then holds him captive until he writes his next book for her. Our floormate said one of the creepy scenes was when the writer tries to escape, but his tormentor not only re-captures him but breaks his foot with a sledge hammer to keep him from escaping again.
I think that is why I have never seen “Misery”.
The years after
Stephen King would go on to have a lot of a success. Two shows that really stand out for me, which both came out in 1994, are “The Shawshank Redemption”, set in a prison over a number of decades, and “The Stand” which was a miniseries in the summer of 1994 that really did the novel justice. It also revitalized actor Rob Lowe’s career and brought the talented Gary Sinise to a larger audience.
Stephen King would go on to have a lot of a success. Two shows that really stand out for me, which both came out in 1994, are “The Shawshank Redemption”, set in a prison over a number of decades, and “The Stand” which was a miniseries in the summer of 1994 that really did the novel justice. It also revitalized actor Rob Lowe’s career and brought the talented Gary Sinise to a larger audience.
There are so many more, as was outlined in the aforementioned documentary “King on Screen”.
Parting thoughts
The only book written by Stephen King that I have read is about writing and called, fittingly “On Writing”. Initially, I did not buy the book, nor sign it out of the library. It was too expensive to buy at that time in my life. It was so popular, there were so many holds it would not have been available from the library for months.
The only book written by Stephen King that I have read is about writing and called, fittingly “On Writing”. Initially, I did not buy the book, nor sign it out of the library. It was too expensive to buy at that time in my life. It was so popular, there were so many holds it would not have been available from the library for months.
Instead, I went to Chapters in Lethbridge, back in early 2001. They encouraged customers to sit on their comfy couches and read books in the store. I was in my second year of college, so, every day for a week or so, before school, or between classes, I would read “On Writing”. Then I just put the book back on the shelf, and picked up where I left off the next day. To keep track of my place in the book, I wrote the progress down in a little notebook.
At the same time, I was taking a class on writing reviews and other opinion pieces. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wrote a review of “On Writing”. It earned me the highest mark I ever got in my two years of journalism school.
Since then, I have purchased several copies of “On Writing” over the years. I have given many as gifts, probably five, and have a copy for my own library, because it may be the best book about writing I have ever read.
Stephen King writes as if he is sitting right in front of you telling stories over coffee.
One person I gave a copy of “On Writing” to is my spouse, who is the biggest Stephen King fan I know. In fact, she has read every book he has written, and owns them all.
It is a delicious irony, given I have read only one of his books.
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