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Newsletter, Stephanie Leonard, had this to say about the columns in the August 1985 issue: ‘Also note

in this issue the first of a number of SK’s “Lists That Matter.” The “Lists” were first written and aired

on WZON in March and April of this year. Stephen graciously consented to allow Castle Rock to

print a number of the “Lists” in this and future issues.’

Mark Wellman of WZON told Tyson Blue for his The Unseen King: “The Lists That Matter

were funny, whimsical little shows that were intended primarily as light entertainment for the folks in

Bangor...Basically, they were a way of attracting listeners to the station.’ 219 Wellman also told Blue

that at one point it was intended to syndicate the columns but they were far too long, at five minutes.

Blue also says: ‘About twenty shows were recorded—although some are continuations of preceding

lists—and aired....’

The following ‘Lists’ were published in 1985 and 1986: Lists That Matter and Lists That

Matter (No. 14) 220, Lists That Matter (Number 7) and Lists That Matter (Number 8)221; all in Castle Rock: The Stephen King Newsletter; and His Creepiest Movies, in USA Today (see our

Opinion—Radio, Music, Film and Television chapter). As five of the pieces appeared in print it

seems that some fifteen remain unpublished. Nothing appears to be known about the subject matter of

these ‘lost’ pieces.

Untitled (forThe Pop of King)

In an interview with Mark Hinson, published at www.tallahassee.com (the website of the

Tallahassee Democrat)222 King revealed that Entertainment Weekly had only knocked back one of

his The Pop of King columns. From Hinson’s report we find, ‘“The only column they ever bounced

was one I wrote about the whole Tom Cruise-Scientology thing a little while back,” King said. “No

one really knows what Scientology is, so I decided to explain it for people. It’s no crazier than

Mormonism or several other religions I could name... As it turned out that there’s been a running

lawsuit between L. Ron Hubbard and Time Warner, the company that owns the magazine, since 1992.

I didn’t know that but the lawyers sure did.” / The magazine wasn’t going to slap that hornet’s nest

again. They expected King to quit over the column kill. / He didn’t. / “I just did a different column. In

fact, I think it was the one I did about waiting in movie lines and it turned out to be one of my most

popular columns.... So, a little ego deflation is not a bad thing.”’

So, that’s the little we know of King’s unpublished non-fiction. As with his fiction, there are

sure to be many more pieces he began and abandoned; or that were completed but have not been

published. As there is nowhere near the focus on these ‘lost’ works as there is with his fiction, they

will come to light much less regularly, and will generally carry less importance in his canon.

However, they are part of the master’s overall body of work and, as we can see with Culch and Why

I Blurb Books, are often of no less importance than those that have been published.

ADDENDUM

The following pieces, listed chronologically, came to our notice or were published between

completion of the initial manuscript for this book and October 6, 2006. Each item is briefly described

and citations provided.

Random Notes: An Interview With Stephen King (August 1974)

Cavalier magazine had King interview himself in a slightly more than one-page piece for their

August 1974 edition (which also carried the first appearance of the revised version of Night Surf).

‘Actually, I’ve known the bearded, twenty-six-year-old King all of my life—you might say we grew

up together…King spoke easily to me, indeed, almost as though he were talking to himself.’ The

interviewee talks of his early relationship with Cavalier, a little about the recently published Carrie,

and of writers he admired at that time.

This is the first of three known ‘self interviews’, the others appearing in Writer’s Digest (The

Writing Life: An Interview with Myself) in 1979, and An Interview with Stephen King at his official

web site in 2002. This edition of Cavalier may be secured at ebay or through King resellers at prices

approaching $100 per copy.

Cavalier (August, 1974): 6, 7.

King Bookmark (April-May 1987)

The April/May 1987 edition of Castle Rock carried a letter to the editor from Gary Buscombe in

which he writes that his bookmark when reading King books is a postcard he received from the

author. He provides the full text from the typewritten card, dated February 25, 1983, in which King

mentions Buscombe’s home state: ‘I get to “the land of fruit and nuts”, as we Yankees call California

(just kidding you, I like it a lot, and I know MOST Californians are straight, good types)…’ King also

notes he is working on ‘ TheTalisman and gotta get back at it…’ Copies of Castle Rock may be

easily secured from King resellers.

Castle Rock: The Stephen King Newsletter (April/May, 1987): 12.

Untitled (Letter) (Spring 1989)

The editors of Midnight Graffiti magazine published the text of a short letter from King offering

them the opportunity to publish his short story Rainy Season for the first time. King says the story is

‘pretty gross’. The magazine carried the story and a review of My Pretty Pony, including a lengthy

excerpt; and can be purchased from King resellers with ease.

Midnight Graffiti (Spring, 1989): 4.

Payment for Stephen King’s The Plant, Installment Four Has Been Sent (October 2000)

Subscribers to Installment Four of the electronic version of The Plant via amazon.com received

an email confirming their payment. Included in the email was this message: ‘Thanks for reading my

story, thanks for your honesty, and thanks for helping us change the face of publishing! / Stephen King’

Email from Amazon.com Payments, October 2000: no pagination

Payment for Stephen King’s The Plant, Installment Five Has Been Sent (November 2000)

Subscribers to Installment Five of the electronic version of The Plant via amazon.com received

an e-mail confirming their payment. Included in the e-mail was the same message as for the previous

installment.

E-mail from Amazon.com Payments (November, 2000): no pagination

Dear Parents (August 2001)

In August 2001 Stephen and Tabitha King posted a three-paragraph message on Simon &

Schuster’s Stephen King bulletin board at www.simonsays.com. Strangely, the piece says the Kings

‘join First Lady Herman, Maine’s Family Literary Task Force, and the Verizon Foundation in

welcoming your child to Kindergarten.’ It goes on to encourage parents to read with and to their

children daily. We speculate this was a message from the Kings first published elsewhere and

reposted on the bulletin board, not necessarily by the two authors.

The post has been deleted from the bulletin board but readers seeking a copy may find it at

www.liljas-library.com.

www.simonsays.com (Stephen King Bulletin Board) (August. 2001): no pagination

Stephen King’s Halloween Picks (October 2003)

The Jacob Burns Film Center of Pleasantville, New York’s calendar for October 2003 included

this piece, which is subtitled ‘In his own words’ and is introduced: ‘When Stephen King came to

JBFC last year and offered to program Halloween week, we jumped at the opportunity. We’ve waited

all year for him to reveal his picks … and here they are.’ King selected six movies and provides

notes for each. The movies are: Cujo (King attended that screening and discussed horror movies

afterward with New York Times critic Janet Maslin in a benefit for the Center); The Texas Chainsaw

Massacre; Night of the Living Dead; The Snake Pit; The Last Man on Earth; and The Changeling.

Thanks go to Michael Coty for bringing this item to our attention (along with some others in this

Addendum section).

October 2003 Calendar. Pleasantville, New York: Jacob Burns Film Center, (October 2003):

8, 9.

Kingdom Hospital a Huge Success (March 8, 2004)

In an e-mail from Stephen King to newsletter subscribers at his official web site, he notes the

‘premiere of Kingdom Hospital did better than any dramatic ABC series in over 5 years!’ He signs

off, ‘Best wishes, / Stephen King.’

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via e-mail) (March 8, 2004): no pagination.

Tune In Tonight (March 17, 2004)

Another email from Stephen King to newsletter subscribers at his official website, this time

encouraging them to start watching Kingdom Hospital at the second episode.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via e-mail) (March 17, 2004): no pagination.

Kingdom Hospital Update (March 30, 2004)

This e-mail to newsletter subscribers informs them Kingdom Hospital is being moved to a

different day and time.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via email) (March 30, 2004): no pagination.

Kingdom Hospital (April 2, 2004)

King is angry: ‘ABC may understand what they are doing with the schedule for Kingdom

Hospital; I do not’; and advises the latest programming changes.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via email) (April 2, 2004): no pagination.

Kingdom Hospital—Final Four (May 15, 2004)

King tells his newsletter subscribers what the last four episodes of Kingdom Hospital will be

and when they will air.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via email) (May 15, 2004): no pagination.

The Official Stephen King Newsletter (December 21, 2004)

King has this to say to his newsletter subscribers: ‘Thanks for all your support. It’s been a great

year!’ Cover shots of The Dark Tower, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: A Pop Up Book, Faithful

and a Kingdom Hospital shot precede the closing line, ‘With thanks and best wishes for a healthy,

happy New Year! / Stephen King’.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via e-mail) (December 21, 2004): no pagination.

The Pop of King: My Morning People (April 28/May 5, 2006)

Undoubtedly one of the lesser of these columns, in which King declares his early morning TV

viewing is taken up by Robin Meade’s Robin & Company on CNN’s Headline News Channel.

Entertainment Weekly No. 874/5 (April 28/May 5, 2006): 144.

The Pop of King: Summer Hits and Misses (May 12, 2006)

King returns to predicting the coming summer’s hit (and miss) movies, this time providing Shane

Leonard’s predictions (see The Pop of King for 3 June 2005) only, with just one sleeper offering by

the author, Snakes on a Plane. Likely hits: The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead

Man’s Chest, X-Men: The Last Stand, Poseidon and Mission: Impossible III. Likely flops: The

Omen, An American Haunting, The Break-Up, Clerks II and Lady in the Water. Leonard’s sleepers:

Nacho Libre and Monster House.

1. Entertainment Weekly No. 876 (May 12, 2006): 90.

2. Who [magazine; Australia] as “Hits and Misses” (May 22, 2006): 85.

Dear Web Site Visitors (May 18, 2006)

Here, the author is ‘bitter’ with ABC-TV for scheduling the movie version of Desperation

(‘probably the best TV movie to be made from my work’) against the American Idol Finals: ‘One can

truly say with friends like this, one doesn’t need enemas.’ He then jokes around with visitors to his

official web site but he is clearly outraged yet again by an ABC decision (one wonders why he

doesn’t boycott them and move to HBO?)

This piece was ‘Reprinted by permission of stephenking.com’ in email from Cemetery Dance

Publications to subscribers of their Stephen King Newsletter the following week.

www.stephenking.com News Post (May 18, 2006): no pagination.

Stephen King Newsletter [Cemetery Dance Publications] (May 24, 2006): no pagination.

Authors Share Faves (May 25, 2006)

The national newspaper USA Today asked a number of writers what they would be reading in

the summer. King nominated eight books, including older works by Herman Melville and Robert Penn

Warren, and those by his regular favorites Michael Connelly and Donald E. Westlake. Asked ‘Why

these authors?’: ‘Because they’re good!’

USA Today (May 25, 2006): 5D.

The Pop of King: Summer Book Awards (June 2, 2006)

King launches the ‘First Annual Stephen King Summer Book Awards’ with a series of Bests,

such as ‘Best Movie Tie-In’ (All the King’s Men), concluding with ‘The Book of the Summer’ –

Scott Smith’s The Ruins (‘Smith intends to scare the bejabbers out of you, and succeeds.’) When

reprinted in Australia’s Who magazine all references to ‘Summer’, including such terms as ‘pre-

beach visits to the bookshop’ were removed or altered.

Entertainment Weekly No. 879 (June 2, 2006): 92.

Revised in Who [magazine; Australia] as “My First Annual Book Awards” (June 19, 2006): 85.

Volume 6—Tabitha’s Book Release (A Message from Stephen) (June 3, 2006)

On June 3, 2006 subscribers to King’s official website newsletter received this message:

‘CANDLES BURNING, a unique collaboration between Tabitha King (my wife) and the late Michael

McDowell (creator of BEETLEJUICE and screenwriter of THINNER, not to mention the frightening

BLACKWATER series), is available in bookstores now. This one will put the ice in your summer

drink—and I’d be telling you that even if the lady in question WASN’T my wife! / Steve’.

StephenKing.com Newsletter (via e-mail) (June 3, 2006): no pagination.

A little message from Stephen (June 14, 2006)

On June 3, 2006 subscribers to King’s official website newsletter received this message:

‘CANDLES BURNING, a unique collaboration between Tabitha King (my wife) and the late Michael

McDowell (creator of BEETLEJUICE and screenwriter of THINNER, not to mention the frightening

BLACKWATER series), is available in bookstores now. This one will put the ice in your summer

drink—and I’d be telling you that even if the lady in question WASN’T my wife! / Steve’

www.stephenking.com News Post (June 14, 2006): no pagination

The Pop of King: Ready or Not (16 June 2006)

The very first ‘The Pop of King’ column, in August, 2003 was subtitled, ‘Ready or Not, Here I

Come’.

Four months after seeing the movie United 93 King is ‘angry’ over the vast majority of the

reviews, of which ‘all but two or three raised the question of whether or not it was still “too soon” to

make a movie about the events of 9/11’ and conclude that would-be viewers should approach with

caution. He feels such reviews ‘infantilise the American public’.

Entertainment Weekly No. 882 (June 16, 2006): 82.

Who [magazine; Australia] (August 28, 2006): 85.

Guest Reviewer: Stephen King (June 2006)

In mid-June 2006 an unheralded review by King of Scott Smith’s upcoming novel The Ruins

appeared at that book’s page on www.amazon.com. The reviewer says boldly the book ‘is going to

be America’s literary shock-show this summer, doing for vacations in Mexico what Jaws did for

beach weekends on Long Island.’

www.amazon.com (June 2006): no pagination.

The Pop of King: The Princess and the Paparazzi(14 July 2006)

King gives his comments on and feelings about ‘blouse-y, gum-chewing matron’ and pop

celebrity Britney Spears’ interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Dateline; all the while handing the

paparazzi their just due.

Entertainment Weekly No. 886 (July 14, 2006): 88.

Who [magazine; Australia] (July 31, 2006): 89.

The Pop of King: The Terror Diet(August 4, 2006)

King is resigned to being ‘the Horror Guy’ but ‘I wonder from time to time (don’t you dare

laugh) what my life would have been like if I’d decided to write about food instead of monsters.’

Considering cookbooks ‘too disciplined’ he hits upon the success of diet books and wonders why

there is no diet ‘ that tried to scare people thin’ – his ‘Terror Diet’. The rules include not eating beef,

pork, chicken and salad, or drinking milk or water (with scary reasons provided).

Entertainment Weekly No. 889 (August 4, 2006): 88.

Who [magazine; Australia] (August 14, 2006): 85.

Untitled (September 2006)

This single-paragraph piece, printed in the Book-of-the Month Club’s The Stephen King Desk

Calendar 2007 appears to have been extracted from an interview King gave before ‘my forthcoming

book’ Pet Sematary was published.

The Stephen King Desk Calendar 2007. New York: Madison Park Press, (September) 2006: p.

March 1-4.

The Pop of King: Setting Off A ‘Wire’ Alarm(September 1, 2006)

Here King praises HBO’s upcoming Season 4 of The Wire, ‘a dazzling three-ring circus of

interwoven plot threads’, including a gang war, the victims of which are stored in a decaying row

house. King is drawn to detective Lester Freamon’s simple statement: ‘ “This is a tomb,” he says.’

And to the fact that the program is ‘smart too, but never too smart for its own good.’ He says, the

show ‘has made the final jump form great TV to classic TV – put it right up there with The Prisoner

and the first three seasons of The Sopranos.’

Entertainment Weekly No. 894 (September 1, 2006): 86.

The Wonder Of It All (September 29, 2006)

In this two-page piece (which was not published as a The Pop of King column) King writes he

‘had the pleasure of a most excellent roundtable discussion with the exec producers of Lost’, the hit

TV program King strongly admires. We learn almost nothing about the upcoming third season (no

surprise there) but King himself had ‘a hell of a good time. Writers rarely get a chance to sit around

and shoot the bull about what they do … This was a rare opportunity to relax and do just that.’

Entertainment Weekly No. 899 (29 September, 2006): 22-23 (of pull-out section).

Author’s Statement (October 2006)

King says ‘there really is a pool where we – and in this case I mean the vast majority of readers

and writers—go down to drink and cast our nets.’ He then lists a number of the stories and songs that

he wishes to acknowledge. He thanks Tabitha (to whom the book is dedicated): ‘She’s not Lisey

Landon, nor are her sisters Lisey’s sisters, but I have enjoyed watching Tabitha, Margaret, Anne,

Catherine, Stephanie, and Marcella do the sister thing for the last thirty years.’

The final acknowledgement is to Burton Hatlen, ‘…the greatest English teacher I ever had. It

was he who first showed me the way to the pool, which he called “the language-pool, the myth-pool,

where we all go down to drink.”’

Lisey’s Story, by Stephen King. New York, NY: Scribner (October, 2006): p. 511-512.

Remembering Charlie (October 2006)

A sad farewell to speculative fiction anthologist, Charles L. Grant, in which King remembers

Grant’s ‘kindness’ in welcoming him to the fold at the 1979 World Fantasy Convention; and recalls

the ‘gentleman’ always signed his correspondence, ‘ Peace, Charlie’, which is now what he wishes

his friend.

Locus magazine (October, 2006): 80-81.

The Writing Life (October 1, 2006)

King uses a scene from Lisey’s Story to bring up the subject of what it is to live as a writer,

although: ‘Lisey could probably have done a better job on that subject than her late husband…Most

writers are actually pretty punk when it comes to explicating what they do or how it makes them

feel....’ A fascinating take by one of the world’s greatest storytellers on the process behind actually

delivering a tale (and the ‘creature’, as he calls his muse), this is one well worth a reprint—you’ll

love his answer to the question of whether writing classes are a help!

The Washington Post Book World (October 1, 2006): 10.

The Pop of King: Graceless and Tasteless(October 6, 2006)

In an unusually aggressive mood, King lambasts CNN anchor Nancy Grace, whose controversial

style King characterises as ‘ugly and shameful. As journalism, it’s immoral, and as entertainment, it’s

outright pimpery. Thirty-five years ago I wrote a novel called The Running Man, in which viewers

watched fugitives run until they were executed on national television. I never expected to see anything

remotely like it for real, but I never imagined Nancy Grace…and I’ve got a pretty nasty imagination.’

Entertainment Weekly No. 900 (October 6, 2006): 86.

A Final Argument

Some authors ‘just’ write fiction; some great writers only work in the realm of non-fiction. We

are lucky that Stephen King, son of Ruth, husband of Tabitha, parent, grandparent and writer, chooses

to do both.

He once wrote, ‘I think that the real truth of fiction is that fiction is the truth; moral fiction is the

truth inside the lie. And if you lie in your fiction, you are immoral and have no business writing at

all.’ This is no less the case for King when penning non-fiction, and has proved to be so in all he has

written over four decades and more. We might therefore misquote the scribbler from Maine thus:

‘Non-fiction is truth; moral non-fiction exposes the truth, or the lie. And if you lie in your non-fiction,

you are immoral and have no business writing at all.’

In making his point, King exposes one of the great themes of his canon—morality. Throughout his

career King has proven to be a truly moral writer—exposing issues of good and evil (the White vs.

the Red, if you will); faith; cowardice and bravery; and the ills of child abuse, spousal abuse, racism

and intolerance in all forms.

Stephen King’s non-fiction, as do his stories and characters, simply ask of the Constant Reader

that we each take a stand.

Throughout this book we have dealt with King’s influence on American culture. During the early

decades of his life Stephen King was profoundly influenced by that culture—through the printed

word, radio, television, the movies and small-town life in a relatively poor backwater State. On

campus he found new influences, profoundly changing his views in a number of areas. And, from the

time he became a ‘brand-name’ author in the mid-1970s, he began to influence the culture, through his

characters, his tales and force of his intellect. At the turn of the last century, with the author just past

his own half-century mark, few people in the English-speaking world (and well beyond) had not

heard of a girl named Carrie, a dog called Cujo or enjoyed movies such as The Shining, The

Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile.

The ever-faster growth of globalization and massive change in technologies (DVD, Pay-TV, the

Internet to name a few) has allowed an even stronger American flavor to invade (or ‘pollute’, as the

French would have it) both other English-speaking societies, and those based on other languages and

cultural backgrounds.

The whole concept of a King-isation of world culture, through his tales (whether in text or

moving picture form), would certainly horrify the master storyteller. But, it has certainly occurred to

varying degrees.

King has, most likely without ongoing intent, created something of a balance to his influence in

the world of entertainment through the extensive canon of non-fiction summarized in this volume. We

can understand to a degree his influences, motivations, opinions, foibles, skills, modes of relaxation,

sense of humor, love for his family, home State and country. Above all we see his deep and abiding

respect for the value, power and craft of story telling, whether genre or not.

Writing is at the core of Stephen King. We have seen in this review that he has published around

600 pieces of non-fiction; these supplement his better known body of work—the 200-odd individual

fictional tales that most clearly mark his influence. It is clear he will continue to produce both fiction

(having recently acknowledged he has more novels in him) and non-fiction (whether contracted gigs

like The Pop of King, or more casual contributions).

Constant Readers can therefore look forward to more of that unique King humor, advice on

writing, commentary on genre fiction, book and movie reviews, some political shots, notes on

baseball, personal stories and the further introduction of great books and writers.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Among notable books to include limited reviews of King’s non-fiction are Tyson Blue’s The

Unseen King (Starmont, 1989) and Stephen Spignesi’s The Lost Work of Stephen King (Birch Lane

Press, 1998); and a significant non-fiction Bibliography appeared in Michael Collings’ Horror

Plum’d (Overlook Connection Press, 2002).

2 Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne and Norma Blackburn. Abingdon, Maryland: Cemetery

Dance Publications, 2006.

3 The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King by Rocky Wood, David Rawsthorne and

Norma Blackburn, 2003 and 2004. Copies are available from www.cemeterydance.com,

www.horrorking.com, www.bettsbooks.com and www.shocklines.com among other distributors.

4 Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World’s Most Popular Author by Justin

Brooks. Abingdon, MD: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2006.

5 The Lost Work of Stephen King by Stephen Spignesi. Secaucus, New Jersey: Birch Lane

Press, 1998, page 232.

6 The eight parts appeared in The Summer Campus for June 11, June 18, June 25, July 2, July 9,

July 23, July 30 and August 6, 1970, all after King graduated.

7 Stephen King: From A to Z by George Beahm. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing,

1998, page 118.

8 Ibid, page 81. Beahm also references the December 6, 1990 Bangor Daily News article on the

controversy.

9 Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World’s Most Popular Author by Justin Brooks.

Abingdon, Maryland: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2006.

10 In 1988 or 1989, according to Stephen Spignesi in The Lost Work of Stephen King.

Secaucus, NJ: Birch Lane Press, 1998. page 30.

11 Hussey would star as Audra Phillips Denbrough in the 1990 TV adaptation of King’s novel

It. One wonders if King could have dreamed such a thing in the winter of 1969 as he sat in Bangor’s

Westgate Cinema.

1 2 The Stephen King Phenomenon by Michael R. Collings. Mercer Island, Washington:

Starmont House, Inc., 1987, page 108. Collings reviews each Garbage Truck column in chapter six

of this book.

13 Bright, a former reporter, editor, and agriculture columnist for the Bangor Daily News, is

now a computer installation specialist and lives with his second wife, political activist Jean Hay

Bright, in Dixmont, ME. In Red Sox fan crows about team, but may have to eat chicken (Bangor

Daily News, May 17-18, 1988) King notes ‘I was a UMO Campus columnist who worked for both

Bob and David Bright.’ The Bob is Bob Haskell (see our Baseball chapter for more detail).

1 4 The Stephen King Phenomenon by Michael R. Collings. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont

House, Inc., 1987, page 109.

1 5 The Lost Work of Stephen King by Stephen Spignesi. Secaucus, New Jersey: Birch Lane

Press, 1998, page 36. Spignesi reviews each Garbage Truck column in chapter eight of this book.

16 Of course, Hopkins would play the role of a key King character, Ted Brautigan in Hearts in

Atlantis.

17 Other nominees were Funny Girl and the winner, Oliver!. Hepburn won Best Actress for her

amazing portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her third such award, in a tie with Barbra Streisand. In an

outstanding year for the silver screen, among other movies nominated in various categories at the

Oscar ceremonies just four days after King’s column were The Producers, 2001: A Space Odyssey,

Rosemary’s Baby, Charly, The Odd Couple, Planet of the Apes and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

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