Tabitha King

Born in Old Town, Maine, Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane Spruce (née White; December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007){{Cite web|url=http://www.geni.com/people/Sarah-Spruce/6000000010838196099|title = Sarah Jane Spruce| date=December 7, 1923 }} and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014).{{Cite web|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/29/obituaries/raymond-george-spruce/|title = Raymond George Spruce|date = May 29, 2014}} King attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine{{cite book |last1=Beahm |first1=George |title=Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work |date=September 1998 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=978-0-8362-6914-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BcECkYB7uoC&dq=%22tabitha+king%22+%22john+bapst%22&pg=PA17 |language=en}} before enrolling at the University of Maine, where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library.

As of 2006, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction.{{cite news|last=Ketner|first=Lisa|title=Tabitha King Fans Meet Author|newspaper=Sun Journal|date=October 17, 1994}}{{cite news|last=Anstead|first=Alicia|title=Tabitha King in the Limelight|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4x8zAAAAIBAJ&pg=2016,161652&dq=tabitha-king&hl=en|access-date=August 11, 2012|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=March 16, 1993}} She published her first novel, Small World, through Signet Books in 1981,{{cite web|last=Donovan|first=Mark|title=For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha; Now She Burns to Write, Too| url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20079300,00.html| website=People| access-date=August 11, 2012}} and in 2006, Candles Burning was published through Berkley Books.{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=James|title=Drama Queen|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2006/06/04/drama_queen/?page=full|access-date=August 11, 2012|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=June 4, 2006}}{{cite news|last=Copeland|first=Blythe|title=Stepping Out of a Big Shadow|url=http://www.writersdigestshop.com/digital-issue-writers-digest-june-2007|access-date=August 11, 2012|newspaper=Writer's Digest|date=June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023024927/http://www.writersdigestshop.com/digital-issue-writers-digest-june-2007|archive-date=October 23, 2012}} The paperback rights for Small World were bought by New American Library for $165,000.{{cite news |last1=Guckenberger |first1=Katherine |title=Tabitha King novel fails to shine |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110543252/tabitha-king-novel-fails-to-shine-kath/ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |work=Journal and Courier |date=May 10, 1981 |pages=56}}{{Cite web |title=Stephen King and Tabitha King: All About Their Decades-Long Romance |url=https://people.com/all-about-stephen-king-tabitha-king-relationship-7629516 |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=People.com |language=en}} Candles Burning was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.{{cite book|last=Drew|first=Bernard A.|title=Literary Afterlife: The Posthumous Continuations of 325 Authors' Fictional Characters|year=2009|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-4179-2|pages=169|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c91Vrl20Y4sC&q=%22tabitha+king%22&pg=PA169}}

In 2023, she was the executive producer of the independent horror film The Sudbury Devil.{{Cite web |last=Hubbard |first=El Rob |date=2023-12-21 |title=366 UNDERGROUND: THE SUDBURY DEVIL (2023) |url=https://366weirdmovies.com/366-underground-the-sudbury-devil-2023/ |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=366 Weird Movies |language=en-US}}

Prior to her husband's commercial success, Tabitha worked extra shifts at Dunkin' Donuts so that Stephen could write full-time.As Stephen King recalled the origin of his debut novel, Carrie: "Two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis, came together." It began as a short story intended for Cavalier; Stephen tossed the first three pages in the trash but Tabitha recovered them, saying she wanted to know what happened next. He followed her advice and expanded it into a novel.King, Tabitha, Introduction to Carrie (Collector's Edition) Plume 1991 She told him: "You've got something here. I really think you do."{{Cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |title=On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft |year=2000 |pages=75–77}}

This began a practice that continues today: Tabitha and Stephen review each other's drafts and also those of their children.

Reception to King's work has ranged from negative to positive.{{cite news |last=Robinson |first=Evalyne |date=November 27, 1994 |title=LOST SLEEP, LOST LIFE PROPEL PENS OF KINGS THE BOOK OF REUBEN |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/dailypress/access/85927257.html?dids=85927257:85927257&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+27%2C+1994&author=EVALYNE+C.+ROBINSON+Book+Reviewer&pub=Daily+Press&desc=LOST+SLEEP%2C+LOST+LIFE+PROPEL+PENS+OF+KINGS+THE+BOOK+OF+REUBEN&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131154751/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/dailypress/access/85927257.html?dids=85927257:85927257&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+27,+1994&author=EVALYNE+C.+ROBINSON+Book+Reviewer&pub=Daily+Press&desc=LOST+SLEEP,+LOST+LIFE+PROPEL+PENS+OF+KINGS+THE+BOOK+OF+REUBEN&pqatl=google |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Daily Press |location=Newport News, VA}}{{cite news |last=Slater |first=Joyce |date=February 28, 1993 |title=Teenage basketball, teenage sex, and a tenor who ought to be stopped |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24373324.html?dids=24373324:24373324&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+28%2C+1993&author=Joyce+Slater.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Teenage+basketball%2C+teenage+sex%2C+and+a+tenor+who+ought+to+be+stopped&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131232508/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24373324.html?dids=24373324:24373324&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+28,+1993&author=Joyce+Slater.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Teenage+basketball,+teenage+sex,+and+a+tenor+who+ought+to+be+stopped&pqatl=google |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}{{cite news |last=Hall-Balduf |first=Susan |date=March 21, 1993 |title=Books |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/access/77421210.html?dids=77421210:77421210&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+21%2C+1993&author=Reviewed+By+Susan+Hall-Balduf%2C+DETROIT+FREE+PRESS&pub=Orlando+Sentinel&desc=BOOKS&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201030843/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/access/77421210.html?dids=77421210:77421210&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+21,+1993&author=Reviewed+By+Susan+Hall-Balduf,+DETROIT+FREE+PRESS&pub=Orlando+Sentinel&desc=BOOKS&pqatl=google |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Detroit Free Press}} Pearl received positive mentions from the Los Angeles Times and the Bangor Daily News,{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Linda |date=March 19, 1989 |title=Hester's Liberated Daughter PEARL by Tabitha King |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/66420384.html?dids=66420384:66420384&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+19%2C+1989&author=Linda+Simon&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Hester%27s+Liberated+Daughter+PEARL+by+Tabitha+King+(New+American+Library%3A+%2418.95%3B+336+pp.)&pqatl=google |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news |last=Beaulieu |first=Janet |date=November 8, 1988 |title='Pearl' gleams as both a character and novel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y6hJAAAAIBAJ&pg=2283,2860326&dq=tabitha-king&hl=en |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Bangor Daily News}} while the Chicago Tribune panned Survivor.{{cite news |last=Fallik |first=Dawn |date=May 8, 1997 |title=TABITHA KING'S 'SURVIVOR' FAILS TO RING TRUE |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/11675087.html?dids=11675087:11675087&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+08%2C+1997&author=Reviewed+by+Dawn+Fallik%2C+Associated+Press.&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=TABITHA+KING%27S+%60SURVIVOR%27+FAILS+TO+RING+TRUE&pqatl=google |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Arizona Daily Star criticized One on One, calling King "a hack",{{cite news |date=May 2, 1993 |title=Tabitha King's 'One' is the work of a hack |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ADSB&s_site=azstarnet&f_site=azstarnet&f_sitename=Arizona+Daily+Star%2C+The+%28AZ%29&p_multi=ADSB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EACE58DA8CDE3F7&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Arizona Daily Star}} whereas Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the Rocky Mountain News gave the novel positive reviews.{{cite magazine |last=Hajari |first=Nisid |title=Review: One on One |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306020,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202043213/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306020,00.html |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}{{cite magazine |last=Skow |first=John |date=February 22, 1993 |title=Home Games |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977784,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028032648/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977784,00.html |archive-date=October 28, 2010 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |magazine=Time}}{{cite news |last=Graham |first=Mark |date=April 4, 1993 |title=THE 'OTHER' KING COMES INTO HER OWN |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4DC6E2C325673&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Rocky Mountain News}} Caretakers received positive praise by The New York Times,{{cite news |last=Bass |first=Judy |date=October 23, 1983 |title=Fiction in Brief |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/23/books/fiction-in-brief-229916.html |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=New York Times}} while Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes made to McDowell's Candles Burning.{{cite web |last=Hartlaub |first=Joe |title=Candles Burning |url=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/candles-burning |access-date=August 11, 2012 |publisher=Bookreporter.com}}

• Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine in Orono (May 1987){{cite web|website=Bangorpedia|title=Tabitha King|url=http://bangorpedia.com/tabitha-king/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140615094709/http://bangorpedia.com/tabitha-king/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 15, 2014}}
• Dowd Achievement Award (1992){{cite news|title=Tabitha And Stephen King To Receive Chamber's 1992 Award .|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FqhJAAAAIBAJ&pg=6565,3573790&dq=tabitha-king&hl=en|access-date=August 11, 2012|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=November 13, 1991}}
• Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998){{cite journal |last=Rogers |first=Lisa |date=January 1, 1999 |title=Maine awards new prize to novelist Tabitha King |journal=Humanities: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities}}{{cite news|last=Anstead|first=Alicia|title=Tabitha King wins Carlson award Author lauded for literacy efforts|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bangor/access/35126525.html?dids=35126525:35126525&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+16%2C+1998&author=Alicia+Anstead+Of+the+NEWS+Staff&pub=Bangor+Daily+News&desc=Tabitha+King+wins+Carlson+award+Author+lauded+for+literacy+efforts&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131145941/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bangor/access/35126525.html?dids=35126525:35126525&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+16,+1998&author=Alicia+Anstead+Of+the+NEWS+Staff&pub=Bangor+Daily+News&desc=Tabitha+King+wins+Carlson+award+Author+lauded+for+literacy+efforts&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|access-date=August 11, 2012|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=October 16, 1998}}

King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine, such as the Bangor Public Library board.{{cite web |date=March 2005 |title=122nd Legislature celebrates National Women's History Month March 2005: Tabitha King (b. 1949) |url=http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/WomensHistory/20NatWomensHistMon.King20_files/20.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204072715/http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/WomensHistory/20NatWomensHistMon.King20_files/20.htm |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |access-date=September 30, 2008 |publisher=Maine Senate}} She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994.{{cite news |last=Garland |first=Nancy |date=December 3, 1994 |title=Tabitha King quits as trustee MPBC controversy grows since program |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bangor/access/71114584.html?dids=71114584:71114584&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+03%2C+1994&author=Nancy+Garland+Of+the+NEWS+Staff&pub=Bangor+Daily+News&desc=Tabitha+King+quits+as+trustee+MPBC+controversy+grows+since+program&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202115816/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bangor/access/71114584.html?dids=71114584:71114584&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+03,+1994&author=Nancy+Garland+Of+the+NEWS+Staff&pub=Bangor+Daily+News&desc=Tabitha+King+quits+as+trustee+MPBC+controversy+grows+since+program&pqatl=google |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |access-date=August 11, 2012 |newspaper=Bangor Daily News}} In 1998 she received the inaugural Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize, the Maine Humanities Council's highest award, for her work with literacy for the state of Maine. In 2019, Tabitha and Stephen donated $1.25M to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Dory Jackson Culture |date=2019-02-28 |title=Who is Tabitha King, Stephen King's Author Wife? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/who-tabitha-king-stephen-king-praises-author-spouse-amid-headlines-demoting-1348112 |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}

She currently serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT radio stations, as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations. The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, chaired by her and her husband, ranks sixth among Maine charities in terms of average annual giving, with over $2.8 million in grants per year, according to The Grantsmanship Center.{{cite news |title=Top Giving Foundations: ME |url=https://www.tgci.com/funding-sources/ME/top |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402105604/https://www.tgci.com/funding-sources/ME/top |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |access-date=March 30, 2015 |newspaper=The Grantsmanship Center}}

Tabitha and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971.{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Stephen |title=Stephen King on Twitter: "A couple of kids got married 48 years ago today. So far it's worked out pretty well. Still in love." |url=https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1080588109065191426 |website=Twitter |access-date=January 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102232359/https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1080588109065191426 |archive-date=January 2, 2019 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Beahm |first1=George |title=The Stephen King Companion: Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror |date=October 6, 2015 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-08131-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtJ0CgAAQBAJ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Donovan |first1=Mark |title=For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha; Now She Burns to Write, Too |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20079300,00.html |access-date=October 1, 2022 |work=People |volume=15 |issue=19 |date=May 18, 1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604112605/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20079300,00.html |archive-date=June 4, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Forsberg |first1=Helen |title=One on one with Tabitha King |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110543456/one-on-one-with-tabitha-king-helen/ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=March 28, 1993 |pages=53}} They have three children: a daughter Naomi and two sons, Joe Hill and Owen King, who are both writers.{{cite web|last=Vincent|first=Bev|title=Onyx interviews: Tabitha King|url=http://www.bevvincent.com/onyx/interview-tk.html|publisher=Onyx|access-date=August 11, 2012}}

• The Blue Chair (1981)
• The Demonstration (1985)
• Road Kill (1986)
• Djinn and Tonic (1998)
• The Women's Room (2002)
• Archie Smith, Boy Wonder (2011)

• A Gradual Canticle for Augustine{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Stephen |title=On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft |date=2012 |publisher=Hodder |isbn=978-1-4447-2325-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsFl5AAACAAJ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |language=en}} (1967)
• Elegy for Ike{{Cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.com/books/search|title=Book Details}} (1967)
• Note 1 from Herodotus (1968)
• Nonsong (1970)
• The Last Vampire: A Baroque Fugue{{Cite web|url=http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/stephen-tabitha-king-poems-contraband-176356658|title = Stephen & Tabitha King Poems, Contraband #2, Rare '71 | #176356658}} (1971)

• "The Passion of Reverend Jimmy"{{efn|episode of Kingdom Hospital, co-written with Stephen King}} (2004)

• Murderess Ink: The Better Half of the Mystery, Dilys Winn, ed., Bell, 1979
• Shadows, Volume 4, C. L. Grant, ed., Doubleday, 1981
• Midlife Confidential, ed. David Marsh et al., photographs by Tabitha King, Viking Penguin, 1994

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• Mcaleer, Patrick. The Writing Family of Stephen King: A Critical Study of the Fiction of Tabitha King, Joe Hill and Owen King. McFarland. 2011.

{{Library resources box|by=yes|viaf=61639391}}

• {{IMDb name|0455317}}
• {{isfdb name|id=Tabitha_King|name=Tabitha King}}
• [http://www.stkfoundation.org/ Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation]
• [http://www.joehillfiction.com/ Joseph Hillstrom King]
• [http://www.owen-king.com/ Owen Phillip King]

{{Stephen King}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Tabitha}}

Category:1949 births

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:Activists from Maine

Category:American women novelists

Category:John Bapst Memorial High School alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Novelists from Maine

Category:People from Old Town, Maine

Category:Stephen King

Category:University of Maine alumni

Category:Writers from Bangor, Maine