King, Stephen

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine. His father, Donald Pollock, a vacuum cleaner salesman, sailor and philanderer (King has a half-sister in Brazil), went through a number of aliases before he changed his surname to King. When Stephen was two years old, his father went out to buy cigarettes and never came back. Stephen grew up in poor circumstances with his mother Ruth and his adopted older brother David. While his family moved between Maine, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Indiana depending on where his mother was able to find work, the brothers were looked after by various relatives. When Stephen was eleven, they settled down in Maine where his mother looked after her aging parents. After their death she found employment at a mental institution. King had to contribute to household finances by taking odd jobs in laundries and factories throughout his schooling.