The family tree
Two full sets of vertical shelves are filled with King’s own books and those of his family — Tabitha and the couple’s two sons, Owen and Joe (who writes as Joe Hill), have each published several novels. King’s daughter, Naomi, is a minister. When asked to survey those King-centric shelves, the author immediately began pointing out the work of his family members. “Joe’s books are here, Tab’s books up there,” he noted. “Where’s Owen’s stuff? Here’s his book ‘The Curator.’ ‘Save Yourself,’ that’s Kelly’s book. Kelly [Braffet] is Owen’s wife; she’s terrific.”
Despite the great number of his own books on the shelves, King wasn’t talking about them.
He said the books by the family had been curated and shelved by someone who works for him, someone who’s “sort of interested in my, what would you call it, my …?” “Legacy?” I offered. “Legacy, maybe that,” he said.
A few minutes later, I asked whether he considered his legacy himself. “I don’t think about legacy very much,” he said. “I don’t understand why there would possibly be one. When you’re a popular novelist — I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do the best job that I can, and I always try to find something to say. If you’re not saying something that you cared about, why bother?
“There are very few popular novelists who have a life after death. Agatha Christie, for one. I can’t think of anybody else who’s a popular novelist, really. People like John D. MacDonald, he was a terrifically popular novelist in his day, but when he died, his books disappeared off the racks. They were ultimately disposable. I think that a couple of the horror novels might last. They might be read 50 or a hundred years from now, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Salem’s Lot’ and ‘It.’ If you ask people, ‘What vampire do you know?,’ they’d say, ‘Dracula.’ ‘Well, who invented Dracula?’ ‘I don’t [expletive] know.’ So, 50 or a hundred years from now, people will say: ‘Oh, Pennywise, the clown. Yeah, sure.’ ‘Who is Stephen King?’ They won’t know.”
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