FRESH STUFF DAILY
Seacoast New Hampshire
& South Coast Maine
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
|
|
| |
|
|
|
f39
where can i buy propecia without a prescription viagra with prescription canadian pharmacy no prescription cheapest daily cialis cheap prescription free viagra pharmac y support group viagra pronounce Aciclovir propecia for sale canadian pharmacy no prescription canadian no prescription pharmacy buy propecia detox from vicodin cheap online viagra canadian pharmacy penicillan pills cialis generic viagra canada propecia, prescription cialis online cialis generic lexapro get viagra without a prescription viagra buy india get viagra prescription online canada pharmacy no prescription viagra for sale online propecia without prescription generic viagra canada
0
|
When Stephen King Was King
|
 |
 |
|
Written by J. Dennis Robinson
|
|
Page 1 of 2  LITERARY LIONS
According to the New York Times, Stephen King’s son lives in New Hampshire. That was no news here in the Seacoast, where people know how to keep a secret. At 34, with his first novel in print, Joe Hill is the same age his father was at the height of his game. But his dad is tough ax to follow.
Didn’t that Maine guy used to be Joe Hill’s dad?
MORE Local Literary Lions
One of my favorite places in the world used to be locked inside a Stephen King horror story, unable to escape until the final page. You’ve been there, I’m sure. When I took this photo of King on Ogunquit Beach in the summer of 1980, for my money, his best work was behind him. At the rate of one blockbuster book per year he had completed Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, the Night Shift stories, The Stand, The Dead zone and Firestarter. There was one good book left, a collection of novellas called Different Seasons from which came King’s best movie, Stand by Me, plus film adaptations The Shawshank Redemption and Apt Pupil.
From that moment on, although I struggled through at least a dozen more of Stephen King’s next five dozen books, I never had another satisfying experience. Hardcore readers will argue themselves blue over the merits of King’s later works. That’s what groupies are for. But from the arrival of Pet Cemetery, this reader was jilted.
To this day I can’t say which of us failed the other. I blame King for taking the easy way out with killer dogs, killer cars, killer clowns. By 1980 King was already in bed with zombie-cannibal filmmaker George Romeros. (Their film Creepshow arrived two years later.) But it’s hard to blame a writer for copping out, when he defines his own work as "the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries". It had been for me, a brilliant steak dinner, like the best of HG Wells, Isaac Asimov or Jules Verne.
Perhaps it was my fault for loving too hard. In the photograph King is holding a record album in one hand. I don’t recall what it was, but it was a present from me. I heard on the radio that King was going to show up in Maine and that he loved a certain rock band, so I pulled into a mall, bought him a record and drove there in my battered Volkswagen bug. Or maybe it was my battered Chevy Nova, memory fails. I managed to ask King a couple of questions and squeeze out a story for the local newspaper. It was pretty pitiful stuff. "What are you doing next?" I asked. Duh. I wrote King a letter and he wrote back. Then suddenly, like a lopped off human head flushed down the toilet, the magic was gone.
CONTINUE WITH STEPEHN KING IN 1980
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners.
Portsmouth Herald
|
Portsmouth Herald Latest Headlines
|
| Portsmouth Herald News from SeacoastOnline.com |
-
Thief stole charity jar from donut shop, say police
PORTSMOUTH — While a Dunkin' Donuts clerk turned her back to fill an order, Derrick Rice stole a counter-top jar filled with donations for children with cancer, allege police.
-
Portsmouth police log
7:08 a.m. Arrested Shari Webber, 29, of 258 Leslie Dr., for a count of driving after alcohol-related suspension.
-
City resident arrested on child porn charges
PORTSMOUTH — Eight months after a woman accused him of viewing child pornography, a Salmon Avenue man has been arrested on multiple counts of possessing child porn and a single...
-
Boys soccer: STA falls in double overtime
EXETER — For 110 minutes the St. Thomas Aquainas and Coe-Brown High School boys soccer teams battled for a spot in the Class I final, taking a 0-0 game into...
-
High School football: Clippers need to start strong
Like a stubborn man who refuses to take his medication, the Portsmouth High School football team has been living dangerously this season.
-
High School football: Weekend game capsules
WINNACUNNET VS. SPAULDING
-
Montreal edges Bruins in shootout
BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron's goal with 52 seconds left in regulation helped the Bruins avoid a historic third straight shutout, but Michael Cammalleri scored in the shootout to give the...
-
Little Clippers advance
-
High School football: Playoffs begin with York and Portsmouth
If you look at the Mountain Valley High School football team's two most recent games — losses to second-seeded York (33-14) and top-seeded Cape Elizabeth (34-0) ˆ' you might conclude...
-
UNH hockey regroups after Wisconsin losses
After spending much of their time in scrambling to get the puck out of their own zone against Wisconsin last weekend, the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team is...
-
Seacoast mourning Bavicchi, a 'visionary'
PORTSMOUTH — There is a granite slab outside the Shoals Building at Portsmouth Regional Hospital that recognizes the tireless work of three men who guided the health care facility to...
-
Ferris G. Bavicchi
RYE BEACH — Ferris G. Bavicchi, 84, died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
-
Stephen M. Carroll
PORTSMOUTH — Stephen Michael Carroll, beloved son, brother and uncle, died peacefully Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, after a brief illness.
-
William C. Wilson
HAMPTON — William C. Wilson of Hampton Beach and Cape Coral, Fla., husband of Maryann T. (Fitzgerald), died Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.
-
Gov. Lynch helps Red Cross honor 'Heroes'
PORTSMOUTH — Heroes may not be as rare as thought.
-
Community asked to welcome home Jordyn Boucher
BRENTWOOD — Jordyn Boucher is coming home after a two-month stay at Children's Hospital in Boston, and her family is asking the Seacoast community to help welcome her.
-
Plea deal follows police call alleging man had firearm
RYE — Arrested after police responded to a 911 call about an intoxicated man with a gun, Sean Tichey was absolved of a Class A misdemeanor Thursday as part of...
-
UNH study: Child porn probes take physical, mental toll on police
PORTSMOUTH — Police officers exposed to child pornography as part of criminal investigations live with "mental health problems," according to a University of New Hampshire study based on interviews with...
-
Woman on trek to feed need in Maine
If you see a lively lady in a bright yellow hard hat walking along the highways and streets of Maine, be sure to stop and say hello — and while...
-
Portsmouth shop to give away cupcakes Saturday
PORTSMOUTH — If there's one thing Debbie Mugherini, owner of the Old Stove Bake Shoppe, wants people to take away from her shop, it's a smile.
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, November 08, 2009 |
|
|
|
