Stephen King Fear, Fame, and Fortune (A&E Biography) Name: ________________________ Answer the following questions while viewing the video presentation of Biography: Stephen King. 1. What hardships did Stephen King face as a young boy? _____________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. List three things King is afraid of: ______________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why didn’t his father become a famous writer? ___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What job did King have that inspired him to write his first published short story? ________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5. As a junior in college, King had already written ________________ novels. 6. Which story-turned-into-novel was King’s first published novel? _____________________________ 7. Why was this novel almost NOT published? ______________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8. King made $_____________________ as advance payment for publishing this novel. Then New American Library bought the paperback rights for $_______________________, in which he made $_________________________. 9. What is Stephen King’s pseudonym (pen/fictional name)? ___________________________________ 10. Why did King allow Rage to go out of print (what event triggered this)? ______________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Write down three facts about Stephen King that you found interesting: ________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright©2010, T.Orman Stephen King A&E Biography ANSWER KEY Answer the following questions while viewing the video presentation of Biography: Stephen King. 1. What hardships did Stephen King face as a young boy? Answers will vary. Possibilities include: poor; father left them when he was young; mother had to work & leave he & his older brother home alone at a young age. 2. List three things King is afraid of: Answers may include: spiders, bats, the dark, funerals, closed spaces, sewers, the number 13. 3. Why didn’t his father become a famous writer? He lacked persistence. 4. What job did King have that inspired him to write his first published short story? He worked as a grave digger, which inspired the story “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber”. 5. As a junior in college, King had already written five novels. 6. Which story-turned-into-novel was King’s first published novel? Carrie 7. Why was this novel almost NOT published? King threw it in the trash and his wife, Tabitha, took it out & encouraged him to continue working on it. 8. King made $2,500 as advance payment for publishing this novel. Then New American Library bought the paperback rights for $400,000, in which he made $200,000. 9. What is Stephen King’s pseudonym (pen/fictional name)? Richard Bachman 10. Why did King allow Rage to go out of print (what event triggered this)? The Columbine school shootings (or the school shootings in Kentucky). 11. Write down three facts about Stephen King that you found interesting: Answers will vary. Some interesting facts: first car he wanted was a pink Cadillac, but he bought a red, white, and blue one instead; he met his wife in the book stacks at the school library in which they both worked; they had their first child before they were married (“Because sometimes that’s how it was done in the ‘60s.”); King almost died in a car accident in 1999; he earned $4,600 per year teaching English (he would have to work for over 43 years at that salary to earn what he did on the paperback rights to Carrie); has three children. Copyright©2010, T.Orman Stephen King Biography - Quiz!! Name: _____________________________________ 1. Name at least THREE things Stephen King is afraid of: _____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. What was Kingʼs first PUBLISHED novel? _______________________________________ 3. Why was this novel almost NOT published? ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. What is Kingʼs pseudonym (pen or fictional name)? ________________________________ 5. What event led to King allowing Rage to go out of print? ____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. Extra Credit: According to his mother, what was his father lacking in order to become a famous writer? _____________________________________________________________ Stephen King Biography - Quiz!! Name: _____________________________________ 1. Name at least THREE things Stephen King is afraid of: _____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. What was Kingʼs first PUBLISHED novel? _______________________________________ 3. Why was this novel almost NOT published? ______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. What is Kingʼs pseudonym (pen or fictional name)? ________________________________ 5. What event led to King allowing Rage to go out of print? ____________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. Extra Credit: According to his mother, what was his father lacking in order to become famous writer? _____________________________________________________________ Copyright©2010, T.Orman Stephen King Biography - Quiz!! Name: Teacher"s KEY 1. Name at least THREE things Stephen King is afraid of: spiders, bats, sewers, the dark, funerals, closed spaces, the number 13 2. What was Kingʼs first PUBLISHED novel? Carrie 3. Why was this novel almost NOT published? He threw it in the garbage; his wife, Tabitha, took it out & encouraged him to submit it for publication. 4. What is Kingʼs pseudonym (pen or fictional name)? Richard Bachman 5. What event led to King allowing Rage to go out of print? The Columbine High School school shooting tragedy (or if they said the school shootings in America - or Kentucky - that is OK. 6. Extra Credit: According to his mother, what was his father lacking in order to become a famous writer? persistence Copyright©2010, T.Orman Stephen King Biography Summary Birth Name: Stephen Edwin King Nickname: The King; The King of horror Height: 6' 4" (1.93 m) Spouse: Tabitha King (2 January 1971 - present) Children: Naomi Rachel (b. 1970), Joseph Hillstrom (b. June 4, 1972) and Owen Phillip (b. February 21, 1977). Trade Marks: Usually sets stories in Maine; Most of his lead male characters are writers; Almost always has a cameo in the movies or mini-series based on his novels; Makes references to his previous novels in his books; Horror and fantasy themes. Mini Biography Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged. Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums. He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines. Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in