Changes

== Biography and first works==

== Biography and first works==

 

Stephen King was born in 1947, in Maine. He attended Lisbon High School in Lisbon.  

Stephen King was born in 1947, in Maine. He attended Lisbon High School in Lisbon.  

His next idea came from the poem by [[Robert Browning]], "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", which gave him the inspiration for his later ''Dark Tower'' series. Due to his lack of income he was unable to further pursue the novel at great length and it too was filed away. King took a measly job of pumping gas earning $1.25 an hour. Also he earned money for his writings by submitting his short stories to men's magazines such as ''Cavalier''.

His next idea came from the poem by [[Robert Browning]], "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", which gave him the inspiration for his later ''Dark Tower'' series. Due to his lack of income he was unable to further pursue the novel at great length and it too was filed away. King took a measly job of pumping gas earning $1.25 an hour. Also he earned money for his writings by submitting his short stories to men's magazines such as ''Cavalier''.

== Writing Career ==

== Writing career ==

On January 2, 1971, Stephen King married Tabitha Jane Spruce. In the fall of 1971, King took a teaching job at Hampden Academy earning $6,400 a year. The Kings then moved to Hermon, a town west of Bangor, Maine.  

On January 2, 1971, Stephen King married Tabitha Jane Spruce. In the fall of 1971, King took a teaching job at Hampden Academy earning $6,400 a year. The Kings then moved to Hermon, a town west of Bangor, Maine.  

by Brian de Palma; "The Shining", by Stanley Kubrick; "Misery", by Rob Reiner; and "[[The Shawshank Redemption]]", by Frank Darabont. In his review of "The Green Mile", award-winning critic Roger Ebert wrote that ''"Stephen King, sometimes dismissed as merely a best-seller, has in his best novels some of the power of [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]], who created worlds that enveloped us and populated them with colorful, peculiar, sharply seen characters. King in his strongest work is a storyteller likely to survive as Dickens has, despite the sniffs of the litcrit establishment."''<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991210/REVIEWS/912100302/1023</ref>  

by Brian de Palma; "The Shining", by Stanley Kubrick; "Misery", by Rob Reiner; and "[[The Shawshank Redemption]]", by Frank Darabont. In his review of "The Green Mile", award-winning critic Roger Ebert wrote that ''"Stephen King, sometimes dismissed as merely a best-seller, has in his best novels some of the power of [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]], who created worlds that enveloped us and populated them with colorful, peculiar, sharply seen characters. King in his strongest work is a storyteller likely to survive as Dickens has, despite the sniffs of the litcrit establishment."''<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991210/REVIEWS/912100302/1023</ref>  

In June 1999, Stephen King was severely injured in an accident that left him in critical condition with injuries to his lung, broken ribs, a broken leg, and a severely fractured hip. After three weeks of operations, he was released from the Central Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. Stephen continued to be bedridden and required intensive rehabilitation over the remainder of this year. He is expected to be able to walk about 9-12 months after the accident. Due to Stephen King's injuries, his projects were delayed at least a year.

In June 1999, Stephen King was severely injured in an accident that left him in critical condition with injuries to his lung, broken ribs, a broken leg, and a severely fractured hip. After three weeks of operations, he was released from the Central Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. Stephen continued to be bedridden and required intensive rehabilitation over the remainder of this year. He is expected to be able to walk about 9–12 months after the accident. Due to Stephen King's injuries, his projects were delayed at least a year.

He relives this incident in ''The Dark Tower'', the final book in the ''Dark Tower'' series, in which his life is saved by Jake Chambers.

He relives this incident in ''The Dark Tower'', the final book in the ''Dark Tower'' series, in which his life is saved by Jake Chambers.

Stephen King is a [[liberal]]; he is a self proclaimed supporter of the [[Democratic Party]], and [[Barack Obama]].<ref>[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/175900,stephen-king-backing-barack-obama.html Stephen King backing Barack Obama: US Entertainment]{{Dead link|date=September 2010}}</ref> He has also expressed distaste for [[conservative]] political commentators such as [[Rush Limbaugh]], [[Bill O'Reilly]], and [[Glenn Beck]].<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348-3,00.html Roberts, Nicholas "Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?" ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine/''[[The New York Times]]'', September 17, 2009; Page 3 of 4]</ref>

Stephen King is a [[liberal]]; he is a self proclaimed supporter of the [[Democratic Party]], and [[Barack Obama]].<ref>[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/175900,stephen-king-backing-barack-obama.html Stephen King backing Barack Obama: US Entertainment]{{Dead link|date=September 2010}}</ref> He has also expressed distaste for [[conservative]] political commentators such as [[Rush Limbaugh]], [[Bill O'Reilly]], and [[Glenn Beck]].<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1924348-3,00.html Roberts, Nicholas "Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?" ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine/''[[The New York Times]]'', September 17, 2009; Page 3 of 4]</ref>

On April 4, 2008, King made comments which have been criticized as elitist and anti-military.  While addressing a symposium of high school students, he stated that "The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that."  These comments were criticized by Noel Sheppard, a conservative blogger. <ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/05/05/writer-stephen-king-if-you-cant-read-youll-end-army-or-iraq</ref>  King has since refused to apologize for the comments, blaming the controversy on conservative commentators and claiming that Sheppard and other conservatives "...take their cues from [conservative commentators Rush] Limbaugh and [Bill] O’Reilly, who are adept at shifting discussion from what they don’t want to talk about, such as the failures of the war in Iraq, to what they want to talk about..."    According to King, "[Conservative commentators] shift the discussion away from education to who’s supporting the troops. Of course, I support the troops. In this country, there’s an equating of intelligence with elitism, and elitism with being unpatriotic. But smart people love the U.S., too." <ref>http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=164062&zoneid=176</ref>

On April 4, 2008, King made comments which have been criticized as elitist and anti-military.  While addressing a symposium of high school students, he stated that "The fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that."  These comments were criticized by Noel Sheppard, a conservative blogger.<ref>http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/05/05/writer-stephen-king-if-you-cant-read-youll-end-army-or-iraq</ref>  King has since refused to apologize for the comments, blaming the controversy on conservative commentators and claiming that Sheppard and other conservatives "...take their cues from [conservative commentators Rush] Limbaugh and [Bill] O’Reilly, who are adept at shifting discussion from what they don’t want to talk about, such as the failures of the war in Iraq, to what they want to talk about..."    According to King, "[Conservative commentators] shift the discussion away from education to who’s supporting the troops. Of course, I support the troops. In this country, there’s an equating of intelligence with elitism, and elitism with being unpatriotic. But smart people love the U.S., too." <ref>http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=164062&zoneid=176</ref>

== List of Stephen King's works ==

== List of Stephen King's works ==

{{reflist}}

{{reflist}}

==External Links==

==External links==

[http://www.stephenking.com/ Stephen King: The Official Website]

* [http://www.stephenking.com/ Stephen King: The Official Website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Stephen}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Stephen}}