THE STEPHEN KING & I

My connection to the world's most prolific horror author goes from analog to digital

When I was a sophomore in high school back in the Dark Ages (1985), I wrote a paper for my Honors English class comparing and contrasting the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King.

While there was plenty of material at the library (that’s what the internet used to be called, Gen Z!) on Lovecraft, I couldn’t find too much biographical material on King, whom I worshipped at the time.

I was as ballsy then as I am now, so 15-year-old Tara Dublin wrote a letter (on PAPER, even!) to Stephen King, and mailed it to him via his publisher. I told him about my paper, that I was a big fan, and asked if THE DARK TOWER was available anywhere, because it was out of print at the time.

I didn’t really expect much, but I had learned early on that it never hurts to ask, because the worst thing someone can say is no. And I figured if it never got to him, I’d cobble together whatever information I could get from magazine articles. He’s a busy guy, after all, writing stuff to scare the bejeebus out of everyone, and I was just this little girl from New Jersey.

So imagine my surprise when I received a packet of information from Stephen King just a few weeks later. It was a generic, fan-club-type mailer with his bio and bibliographies.

It also included a photocopied letter from Stephen King, explaining that in the past, he’d had the time to answer all fan inquiries himself, but there was now so much mail that he couldn’t keep up with it. It’s understandable. But at the bottom of that page, The King had personally typed: “Hope I’m not toooo late with this info. Good luck and hope you get an A! SK”

I was floored. It was so exciting to know that for a brief moment, Stephen King knew who I was.

I brought the letter to school to show my Honors English teacher, Mr. Martin, the lengths I’d gone to. He was duly impressed, as were many of my friends, and my mother. This was the same year I had my first ever letter published in a magazine (a missive to PEOPLE magazine regarding Band Aid), so my mom predicted I was headed for my own fame via the written word.

Since there was no social media back then, I simply basked in the fact that Stephen King had taken the time to read my letter AND to type out a personal response to me. It was just cool, the first of many celebrity encounters I would come to have in my life.

Shortly after I turned in my paper, I got another surprise in the mail. Check it out…it’s become one of my most prized possessions.

If you can’t quite make it out (it’s framed and I don’t want to handle it too much), this is what it says:

5/31/85

Dear Tara Dublin:

Thank you very much for your interest. As of November 1985 Don Grant in Kingston, Rhode Island, told me THE DARK TOWER is officially out of print. If you’re still interested in obtaining a copy, may I suggest you contact a reputable dealer of used books and out of print editions. May I also suggest you refuse to pay more than $50.

Stephen King
Forgot to enclose this information
with the stuff for your term paper.

Now, I ask you: how COOL is that? Stephen King didn’t have to write that to me. He was probably working on Misery at the time or something. Uncle Steve is the grooviest.

And I got an A+, because of course I did.

That postcard has been my daily inspiration for 38 years. I keep it on my desk as a reminder that Stephen King was on the brink of poverty when Carrie sold. It keeps me going as I sell copies of my book The Sound of Settling, at a slow but somewhat constant pace.

A few months back, I tweeted about the postcard, and Stephen King miraculously saw it and retweeted it. That would have been enough, but then HE FOLLOWED ME BACK and then I died and came back like Rachel Creed, only as a 54-year-old struggling writer and not murder-y.

We haven’t had any interactions since that blessing was bestowed, but it’s bound to happen sooner or later. For now, I’ll enjoy watching him trend every time MAGAts try it with him, because it’s fun to see dumb people so easily owned after challenging people who write for a living.

Anyway, THANK YOU for being you, Constant Uncle Steve! I know you like it darker, but I’ll keep hoping you’ll dig my rock & roll love story because you’re a righteous man.