King, Tabitha (1949 - )

Genre: General Fiction, Non-Fiction

Tabitha (Tabby) King might be best known for being the wife of Stephen King, but she is also a novelist, photographer, community leader, and philanthropist.

A native of Old Town, Maine, Tabitha King attended the University of Maine in Orono, where she met her husband at a writing seminar. They were married in Jan. 1971 and have three grown children. Tabitha King lives in Bangor with her husband.

Tabitha King has been awarded the Maine Humanities Council Constance H. Carlson Public Humanities Prize (1998), for her 'devoted efforts [which] have kindled a passion for reading and a love of ideas in Maine people of all ages. We honor her activism in supporting reading and literacy programs for Mainers of all ages, her leadership and advocacy on behalf of institutions that bring the joy of learning to a wider public, and her powerful work as a writer.' She also received the Maryann Hartman Award (2001), which recognizes women whose achievements provide inspiration to other women.

She and Stephen King run the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, which is well-known in Maine for its generosity to libraries and organizations involved with literacy, community services and the arts.

Tabitha King has also been cited for her leadership of a capital campaign to renovate the Bangor Public Library and her role as a trustee of Maine Public Broadcasting.

As a member of the Maine Humanities Council Board, she encouraged the Council to reach out to at-risk children, adult new readers, library patrons in rural communities, incarcerated men and women, the elderly and the disabled.

Selected Bibliography

  • Small World (1981)
  • Caretakers (1983)
  • The Trap (1985), published in the U.K. as Wolves at the Door
  • Pearl (1988)
  • One on One (1993)
  • The Book of Reuben (1994),
  • Survivor (1997)
  • Candles Burning (2006)

Selected Resources