Robert Plant once sang, "Upon us all a little rain must fall," which is very true for .
He's certainly seen his fair share of hardships and misfortunes throughout .
his life. However, instead of letting them get him down, King uses his experiences for .
the better. From those experiences comes great influence. Stephen King's writing is .
influence by his life experiences, historical events throughout his lifetime, and also share .
common themes.
The second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King, Stephen Edwin King .
was born in 1947 in Portland, Maine. Stephen's father left the family when he was only .
three years old, so him and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of .
his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Stratford, Connecticut. Fort .
Wayne, Indiana was his fathers family's stomping ground. Stephen and his brother made .
frequent trips to visit members on their mothers side of the family in Malden, .
Massachusetts, and Pownal, Maine. But when Stephen reached the age of eleven, his .
mother brought them back to Durham, Maine for good. Ruth King's parents had .
succumbed to old age and were needed taken care of. Ruth's sisters persuaded her to take .
care of them, and other family members provided housing and financial support for the .
King family in Durham. After Stephen's grandparents died, Mrs. King found good .
paying work to support her family in a nearby facility for the mentally retarded. .
Stephen was enrolled in the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls .
High School, where he graduated in 1966. In his sophomore year at the University of .
Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly article for the school newspaper, The Maine Campus. .
He was also very active in student political issues, serving as a member of the Student .
Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement that was taking place on the Orono .
campus. His view on the Vietnam War was that it was unconstitutional.
