Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21,1947,
at the Maine General Hospital. Stephen, his mother Nellie, and his adopted brother David
were left to fend for themselves when Stephen's father Donald, a Merchant Marine
captain, left one day, to go the store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and never returned.
His fathers leaving had a big indirect impact on King's life. While young Stephen and his
family moved around the North Eastern and Central United States. When he was seven
years old they moved to Stratford, Connecticut. Here is where King got his first exposure
to horror. One evening he listened to the radio adaptation of Ray Bradbury's story
"Mars Is Heaven!" Stephen King's exposure to oral storytelling on the radio had a large
impact on his later writings. King tells his stories in visual terms so that the reader
would be able to "see" what was happening in their own mind, somewhat in the same
fashion the way it was done on the radio.(Russell, p.6-8)
While growing up and moving around the way his family did, Stephen
had never been able to feel comfortable and settle down in one place and make friends
the way the other kids his age did. Around the age twelve the King family finally settled
in the town of Durha,, Maine. For Stephen King, Durham was the place where his
imagination began to shine. It was at this time that Stephen first began to make friends.
Along with his friends, Stephen would go to the movies alot. Stephen would use
the movies as an inspiration. Although he enjoyed going out and having fun, whenever
he would come home, Stephen would immediately write down his experiences and
observations. Frequently,King would place his friends and family into childhood
fantasy tales.(www.stephenking.com/man.html, p.3-6)
He knows that we have been set down in a frightening universe, full of real
...