Tabitha King

Tabitha Jane King ( Spruce, born March 24, 1949) is an American author.

Early life Born in Old Town, Maine, Tabitha King is the third eldest daughter of Sarah Jane née White (December 7, 1923 – April 14, 2007) and Raymond George Spruce (December 29, 1923 – May 29, 2014). She attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine before enrolling at the University of Maine in Orono where she met her husband Stephen King through her work-study job in the Raymond H. Fogler Library.

Career As of 2026, King had published eight novels and two works of non-fiction. She published her first novel, Small World, through Signet Books in 1981 and in 2006, Candles Burning was published by Berkley Books. The paperback rights for Small World were bought by New American Library for $165,000. Candles Burning was written predominantly by Michael McDowell, who died in 1999, and the McDowell family requested that King finish the work.

In 2023, she was the executive producer of the independent horror film The Sudbury Devil.

Reception Reception to King's work has ranged from negative to positive. Pearl received positive mentions from the Los Angeles Times and the Bangor Daily News, while the Chicago Tribune panned Survivor. The Arizona Daily Star criticized One on One, calling King "a hack", whereas Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the Rocky Mountain News gave the novel positive reviews. Caretakers was lauded by The New York Times for its characterization of its protagonists. In 2006, King completed and published Michael McDowell's final novel, Candles Burning, to mixed reviews. Bookreporter.com wrote that some readers might be disappointed by the changes King made to McDowell's original.

Awards and recognition Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, University of Maine (May 1987) Dowd Achievement Award (1992) Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998)

Social activism King has served on several boards and committees in the state of Maine including the Bangor Public Library board. She also served on the board of the Maine Public Broadcasting System until 1994. 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.

She serves as vice president of WZON/WZLO/WKIT radio stations, as well as in the administration of two family philanthropic foundations.

Personal life Tabitha and Stephen King married on January 2, 1971. They have a daughter, Naomi, and two sons, Joe Hill (Joseph Hillström King) and Owen King, who are both writers.

Partnership with Stephen King Prior to her husband's commercial success, Tabitha worked extra shifts at Dunkin' Donuts so that Stephen could write full-time. She told him: "You've got something here. I really think you do."

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

Nonfiction Year Title Publisher ISBN Pages Note1994 Playing Like a Girl; Cindy Blodgett and the Lawrence Bulldogs Season of 93-94 Dendrite Corporation N/A 42 The work is about basketball player Cindy Blodgett during her time at Lawrence High School. Mid-life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude Berkley Publishing Group 222 Written by all of the Rock Bottom Remainders with photos by Tabitha King

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

Poetry A Gradual Canticle for Augustine (1967) Elegy for Ike (1967) Note 1 from Herodotus (1971)

Teleplay "The Passion of Reverend Jimmy" (2004)

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