Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine to parents Nellie Ruth and Donald Edwin King. Two years later his father abandoned the family, leaving Stephen and his adopted older brother David completely in their mother's care. Later in his childhood he experienced a rather traumatic experience in which he witnessed one of his friends being hit and killed by a train. Some believe that this incident inspires his dark writings, but he casually has dismissed that idea. After graduating from Lisbon Falls High School, he then attended the University of Maine where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in English. During his time at the University of Maine, he wrote a column in the school newspaper and wrote his first published short story "The Glass Floor". King would continue to write short stories in his younger years as a job while also holding teaching credentials. He also married Tabitha Spruce, a classmate at the University, a year after graduating. In 1974 King published his first novel, "Carrie" which made 400,000 dollars. This was the start to a very successful career for King with such great novels to follow such as "The Shining", "Salem's Lot", "The Stand" and many more. In the summer of 1999, King was hit by a car while walking around town in Lovell, Maine. The incident nearly made him consider retirement due to the pain he endured while sitting down, but he has yet to do so. King has been majorly influenced by writers Richard Matheson and H.P. Lovecraft. He said when he first saw the cover to a collection of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories, a drawing of a monster hiding in a cave, he then immediatley knew that he wanted to write horror novels for the rest of his life.
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