An evening with the King
Friday night I met Stephen King. No, really. blogged_in invited me to a reception and award presentation for Stephen King at George Mason University. It was incredible. As Mr. King mingled through the reception, he walked up to me and extended his hand. I shook it and told him that I first read one of his books at nine years of age. He jokingly grimaced and wrapped his arm around my shoulder so Kerry could (unsuccessfully) snap a photo. I told him that I'd learned all my curse words from him and he laughed mightily. *sigh* It would have been a great photo. As he moved on and met more folks in the reception, I was able to sneak in another photo:
After the reception was the award ceremony where Mr. King received the Mason Award for his "extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public". Before the actual awarding, though, he regaled us with anecdotes of life as a writer and a "horror-meister". He even read a passage from a book he's currently working on. It was a thoroughly entertaining presentation.
Kerry had secured us "Golden Tickets" (they actually said that even though the tickets were colored white and blue) which allowed each of us to get one book signed. I couldn't decide if I wanted Mr. King to sign my first novel (Salem's Lot) or my favorite (Eyes of the Dragon) so I brought both. I wound up having him sign my 1975 hard back edition of Salem's Lot since that's the one that fueled my love of horror literature.
And I have to say that Mr. King is a sweet and patient man. He's also tall and fairly thin. I am so happy to have met, and made laugh, a horror icon.
After the reception was the award ceremony where Mr. King received the Mason Award for his "extraordinary contributions to bringing literature to a wide reading public". Before the actual awarding, though, he regaled us with anecdotes of life as a writer and a "horror-meister". He even read a passage from a book he's currently working on. It was a thoroughly entertaining presentation.
Kerry had secured us "Golden Tickets" (they actually said that even though the tickets were colored white and blue) which allowed each of us to get one book signed. I couldn't decide if I wanted Mr. King to sign my first novel (Salem's Lot) or my favorite (Eyes of the Dragon) so I brought both. I wound up having him sign my 1975 hard back edition of Salem's Lot since that's the one that fueled my love of horror literature.
And I have to say that Mr. King is a sweet and patient man. He's also tall and fairly thin. I am so happy to have met, and made laugh, a horror icon.