Stephen King turns 60

Photo from Wikipedia.com

Greenlee Gazette would like to wish a very happy 60th birthday to author, Stephen King. King has been one of my favorite authors for almost as long as I can remember. I started reading his books in elementary school, and have been hooked ever since.

I've read nearly novel and anthology he's published (minus The Dark Tower series, which I never really could get into). His books (and his readers, for that matter) are sometimes unfairly criticised, as though being prolific and successful are somehow a bad thing. It doesn't matter though. I don't read books to boost my self image, I read what I enjoy. And almost every King book I've read has been enjoyable, sometimes even thrilling.

'Salem's Lot scared me for days after reading it, and inspired vampire nightmares (as did the movie version). Misery actually made me nervous to turn the page, out of fear of what Annie was going to do to Paul next. It, Pet Sematary, The Dark Half, The Dream Catcher, The Dead Zone, all are difficult to put down. I can't count how many nights I've stayed up WAYYY past my bedtime, just to finish "one more chapter" that turned into several.

Don't confuse King's books for his movies. While there have been quite a few good adaptations (The Stand being by far the best), many suffered in their translation. Much like Dean Koontz (a writer in the same genre who I'm also a huge fan of), you cannot judge a book by its movie.

We're very lucky that King made it to 60, after he was crushed by a van several years ago. Of course, like Berkeley Breathed (creator of Bloom County, who broke his back years ago), he just managed to turn it into part of one of his stories. I'm glad he made it (though surely not as glad as he is), and I'm also glad that his supposed retirement didn't take.

Happy birthday, Mr. King!

Stephen King's Official Web Site: StephenKing.com