Stephen King

Stephen King was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine, US. Stephen King's background is described as White American; Scots-Irish descent. Growing up, the family was working class — his father walked out when he was two; his mother raised two sons on low-wage shifts. Wrote in a trailer's furnace room on a teacher's salary; his wife pulled Carrie out of the trash.

Born

1947 · Portland, Maine, US

Roots

White American; Scots-Irish descent

Family

Working class

His father walked out when he was two; his mother raised two sons on low-wage shifts.

Education

University of Maine (English)

Started with

A rescued manuscript

His wife Tabitha retrieved the discarded opening pages of Carrie and told him to finish it.

Affiliations & societies

None documented.

Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1. 1971 · age 23
   Laundry and classrooms

   Industrial laundry work, then teaching at $6,400 a year; the family lives in a trailer, writing done beside the furnace.

2. 1973 · age 25
   Carrie sells$2,500

   The hardcover advance is $2,500; he takes the call on a neighbor's phone.

3. 1973 · age 26
   The paperback deal$400K

   Rights sell for $400,000 — half of it his — on Mother's Day.

4. 1977 · age 29
   The Shining

   The bestsellers begin; he later writes openly about the alcoholism and addiction of these years.

5. 1999 · age 51
   Struck by a van

   Nearly dies on a roadside walk; writes through the recovery.

6. 2003 · age 56
   National Book Foundation medal

   More than 350 million copies sold across 60-plus novels.