Stephen King: A Man of Perseverance

Stephen King holds 6 Bram Stoker awards, 6 Horror Guild awards, 5 Locus awards, 3 World Fantasy awards, a Hugo award from 1982, and the 1996 O. Henry award. In 2003 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writer's Association and a medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Stephen King is the only personality who is not Canadian to have received a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Literary Guild, it was given to him in 2007. A list of his awards can be found at Wikipedia.org, as well as other details.

For a man who made his humble beginnings writing from a trailer where he and his wife were raising two children and could not afford a phone, Stephen King has come a long way. From the sale of his first novel, Carrie, he has crafted a string of best-selling horror novels and has become a house-hold name. Dozens of movies have been produced based on or inspired by the works of Stephen King, and many of those movies have gone on to win critical acclaim and motion picture awards. Stephen King himself has also written screenplays that have been produced into motion pictures. Often, Stephen King will even make a short appearance in his films, as Alfred Hitchcock was also known to do.

In spite of the apparent ease in which Stephen King produces his prolific work, it was not so easy in the beginning. Not only did he and his wife suffer financially, but for a time it seemed as though he might not ever get a novel published. Some writers might place their rejection slips into a small file and tuck it away somewhere, but Stephen King decided to embrace them and hang them from a wall within view of his typewriter.

At his lowest point, Stephen King even threw away an incomplete manuscript out of frustration. His supportive wife found it in the trash then, after reading it herself, forced him to finish it. More details of his early struggles can be found in his recent memoir, On Writing. The rest is a fairy tale that came true, although this fairy tale had some rough edges.

While writing his first novel, Stephen King had already proven to be a heavy drinker, but it wasn't until almost 10 years had passed that he was confronted by his family about the drinking and his other addictions including medication, cocaine, and marijuana.

In 1999 Stephen King was walking along a road and was struck by minivan. His injuries required 5 surgeries over a period of ten days, followed by physical therapy. He has since been plagued by pain while sitting, and has become a less prolific writer as a result. He also had sustained a collapsed lung from the accident and in 2001 was diagnosed with severe pneumonia as a result.

In spite of the pitfalls in his life, Stephen King is still very much an active writer. His website, Stephen King.com, lists several projects he is currently involved in, including upcoming publications. He is a man of perseverance, and his name is Stephen King.