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Tabitha King

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Tabitha King
BornTabitha Jane Spruce
(1949-03-24) March 24, 1949 (age 75)
Old Town, Maine, United States
OccupationAuthor, Activist
GenreHorror, fantasy, science fiction
Spouse
​
(m. 1971)​
ChildrenNaomi King
Joe King
Owen King

Tabitha Jane King (née Spruce; born March 24, 1949) is an American author and activist.[1][2][3] She is married to writer Stephen King.[4]

Personal life

King is the eldest daughter of Sarah Jane Spruce (née White) (December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007) [5] and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014).[6] King attended college at the University of Maine, where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library. The two married on January 7, 1971.[7] King had her first child, Naomi Rachel King in 1970. She gave birth to Joseph Hillstrom King in 1972 and Owen Phillip King in 1977.[8]

As of 2006, King has published eight novels and two works of non-fiction.[9][10] She published her first novel, Small World, through Signet Books in 1981[11] and her most recent book, Candles Burning through Berkley Books in 2006.[12][13] Candles Burning was predominantly written by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.[14]

Social activism

King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine, such as the Bangor Public Library board.[15] She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994,[16] and has received a Constance Carlson award for her work with literacy for the state of Maine.[17]

She currently serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.[15]

Awards and recognition

  • Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine in Orono (May 1987)[18]
  • Dowd Achievement Award (1992)[19]
  • Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998)[17][20]

Reception and criticism

Reception to King's work has been mixed to positive.[21][22][23] Pearl received positive mentions from the Los Angeles Times and the Bangor Daily News,[24][25] while the Chicago Tribune panned Survivor.[26] The Arizona Daily Star criticized One on One, calling King "a hack",[27] whereas Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the Rocky Mountain News gave the novel positive reviews.[28][29][30] Caretakers received positive praise by the New York Times,[31] while Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes made to McDowell's Candles Burning.[32]

Janice Delaney commented on Small World, saying that the "hidden, embarrassing aspects of menstruation are given unusual treatment by Tabitha King".[33]

Bibliography

Library resources about
Tabitha King
By Tabitha King

Novels

  • (1981) Small World
  • (1983) Caretakers *
  • (1985) The Trap (also published as Wolves at the Door) *
  • (1988) Pearl *
  • (1993) One on One *
  • (1994) The Book of Reuben *
  • (1997) Survivor
  • (2006) Candles Burning (with Michael McDowell)

Entries marked with an asterisk are set in King's fictional community of Nodd's Ridge.

Unpublished novels

  • The Sky in the Water[8]
  • The Devil's Only Friend

Nonfiction

  • (1994) Playing Like a Girl; Cindy Blodgett and the Lawrence Bulldogs Season of 93-94
  • (1994) Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude

Short stories

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

Poetry

  • (1967) A Gradual Canticle for Augustine[34]
  • (1967) Elegy for Ike[35]
  • (1968) Note 1 from Herodotus[35]
  • (1970) Nonsong[35]
  • (1971) The Last Vampire: A Baroque Fugue[36]

Contributions and compilations

  • 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

References

  1. ^ Dooley, Jeff (Jun 2, 1985). "Terror Mistress Tabitha King Spins A Thriller". Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  2. ^ Forsberg, Helen (March 28, 1993). "ONE ON ONE WITH TABITHA KING HORROR WRITER'S WIFE CARVES LITERARY NICHE". THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  3. ^ Dumas, Alan (October 12, 1994). "THAT OTHER KING YES, HUSBAND STEPHEN IS A HOUSEHOLD NAME, BUT TABITHA'S BOOKS SELL QUITE WELL, THANK YOU". ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  4. ^ Keyes, Bob (June 4, 2006). "Tabitha King's passion burns brightly". Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  5. ^ http://www.geni.com/people/Sarah-Spruce/6000000010838196099
  6. ^ http://bangordailynews.com/2014/05/29/obituaries/raymond-george-spruce/
  7. ^ "For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha, Now She Burns to Write, Too".
  8. ^ a b Vincent, Bev. "Onyx interviews: Tabitha King". Onyx. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  9. ^ Ketner, Lisa (Oct 17, 1994). "Tabitha King Fans Meet Author". Sun Journal.
  10. ^ Anstead, Alicia (Mar 16, 1993). "Tabitha King in the Limelight". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  11. ^ Donovan, Mark. "For Years, Stephen King's Firestarter Was Wife Tabitha; Now She Burns to Write, Too". People. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  12. ^ Sullivan, James (June 4, 2006). "Drama Queen". Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  13. ^ Copeland, Blythe (June 2007). "Stepping Out of a Big Shadow". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  14. ^ Drew, Bernard A. (2009). Literary Afterlife: The Posthumous Continuations of 325 Authors' Fictional Characters. McFarland & Company. p. 169. ISBN 0786441798.
  15. ^ a b "122nd Legislature celebrates National Women's History Month March 2005: Tabitha King (b. 1949)". Maine Senate. March 2005. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  16. ^ Garland, Nancy (December 3, 1994). "Tabitha King quits as trustee MPBC controversy grows since program". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  17. ^ a b Rogers, Lisa (January 1, 1999). "Maine awards new prize to novelist Tabitha King". Humanities: the Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
  18. ^ "Tabitha King". Bangorpedia.
  19. ^ "Tabitha And Stephen King To Receive Chamber's 1992 Award ". Bangor Daily News. Nov 13, 1991. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  20. ^ Anstead, Alicia (Oct 16, 1998). "Tabitha King wins Carlson award Author lauded for literacy efforts". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  21. ^ Robinson, Evalyne (November 27, 1994). "LOST SLEEP, LOST LIFE PROPEL PENS OF KINGS THE BOOK OF REUBEN". Daily Press. Newport News, VA. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  22. ^ Slater, Joyce (February 28, 1993). "Teenage basketball, teenage sex, and a tenor who ought to be stopped". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  23. ^ Hall-Balduf, Susan (March 21, 1993). "Books". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  24. ^ Simon, Linda (March 19, 1989). "Hester's Liberated Daughter PEARL by Tabitha King". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  25. ^ Beaulieu, Janet (November 8, 1988). "'Pearl' gleams as both a character and novel". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  26. ^ Fallik, Dawn (May 8, 1997). "TABITHA KING'S `SURVIVOR' FAILS TO RING TRUE". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  27. ^ "Tabitha King's `One' is the work of a hack". Arizona Daily Star. May 2, 1993. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  28. ^ Hajari, Nisid. "Review: One on One". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  29. ^ Skow, John (February 22, 1993). "Home Games". Time. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  30. ^ Graham, Mark (April 4, 1993). "THE 'OTHER' KING COMES INTO HER OWN". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  31. ^ Bass, Judy (October 23, 1983). "Fiction in Brief". New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  32. ^ Hartlaub, Joe. "Candles Burning". Bookreporter.com. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  33. ^ Delaney, Janice (1988). The Curse : A Cultural History of Menstruation. University of Illinois Press. p. 206. ISBN 0252014529.
  34. ^ On Writing
  35. ^ a b c http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=639292496&searchurl=an%3Dstephen%2Bking%26amp%3Bbi%3Ds%26amp%3Bbsi%3D0%26amp%3Bds%3D30%26amp%3Bfe%3Don%26amp%3Bn%3D200000237%26amp%3Bsortby%3D1
  36. ^ http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/stephen-tabitha-king-poems-contraband-176356658

Further reading

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