Probably the best-known, bestselling, and most prolific writer of his time, Stephen King was born to working-class parents in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947. When King was two, his father, a vacuum salesman, left the house for a pack of cigarettes and never returned, abandoning his wife and two sons. King's mother, Ruth, worked long hours at low-paying jobs to support her family. She also managed to introduce her sons to reading, giving King his first taste of horror fiction, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, at age seven. Later, King discovered other books, including horror stories by H. P. Lovecraft and original short stories his father had written and left behind in his aunt's attic.

In elementary school, King was already writing his own stories and selling them to his schoolmates during recess. In high school, he often gathered friends at his home and entertained them by...