Pennywise At Work At The Bangor Library?

In article titled, "Stephen King’s scary library needs $9 million repair,"  Esmé E. Deprez at bangordailynews.com notes that the Library is one of Stephen King's favorite haunts -- literally and fictionally.

Fictionally: "Readers of Stephen King’s novel “It” know the Bangor Public Library as a hiding spot for the title character, a deranged clown on a murderous rampage. In real life, the library is falling apart."
Literally: "The Kings, who are both authors, met in the library at the University of Maine in Orono, just a few minutes up the road from the Victorian mansion they now own, according to his website. Both are avid users of the Bangor library, and Tabitha King served on its board for 12 years, McDade said. First editions of all of Stephen King’s titles are stored in the vault."

King Gives Large Gift To Gun Control Advocates

Stephen King has made  passionately expressed his opinions about gun control in his essay "Guns." According to The Guardian, King has made a "substantial" donation to a The Coalition for a Safer Maine.  According to the Guardian,

The group supports legislation calling for greater background checks on gun owners, a ban on the size of magazines that can be sold and a strengthening of the prohibition of the sale of guns to those judged to be mentally ill.

The Guardian also notes:

It said in a statement on its website that it had received a "substantial donation" from King and his wife (and fellow author) Tabitha King, and that the couple backed its support of gun control legislation. 

"We are grateful for the generous support of Mr and Mrs King at this pivotal moment in our efforts to establish common-sense gun regulations in Maine," said Larry Gilbert, former mayor of Lewiston, former federal marshal and co-chair of the Coalition for a Safer Maine.

King's Offer To Cover A Third Of Library Renovations

Bangor Daily Bews has an article titled, "Stephen and Tabitha King offer to cover one-third of $9 million Bangor library renovation, if library finds ways to foot the rest of the bill."  (Really, that's the header)

BANGOR, Maine — Authors Stephen and Tabitha King have pledged $3 million toward renovations at Bangor’s century-old public library, as long as the library reaches its goal of raising another $6 million, according to the library’s director. 

The Bangor Public Library has kicked off a $9 million fundraising effort in an attempt to modernize its building for the next generation of users and to protect its more than 500,000 volumes, Director Barbara McDade said Tuesday. 

The Kings offered to pay one-third of that bill as long as the library figured out how to come up with the rest. 

“They have just been wonderful supporters of the library,” McDade said of the Kings.

The full article, by By Nick McCrea is at bangordailynews.com

Thanks to Herbert West / Club Stephen King

The Regulators Heat Homeless Shelter

There are two ways you can heat  a home with a Stephen King book.  You can burn it (not recommended), or you can auction it and give the money to the Emmaus Homeless Shelter.

I posted previously that a special slip case limited edition of the Regulators was being auctioned to help Emmaus Homeless Shelter in Ellsworth with their "fuel fund." The fund helps those who cannot afford to heat their homes during those cold Maine winter.

So what was the winning bid?  According to wabi.tv, an attorney in Boston gave $2,850.

Special Edition Of The Regulators Auctioned To Help Needy

picture credit HERE

This is pretty neat  from wabi.tvnews.  A special slip case limited edition of the Regulators is being auctioned off to help Emmaus Homeless Shelter in Ellsworth with their "fuel fund."  The fund helps those who cannot afford to heat their homes during those cold Maine winter.

And, even more cool -- it's signed.  How did it get signed?  The article reads in part:

"There's only 550 of these that were boxed this way," explained Scotties Bookhouse Owner Michael Riggs. 

The book was donated by a regular bookstore customer who'd like to remain anonymous. The donor had a plan for what to do with the book's sale, but first he wanted to know what it was worth. 

"I told him the book would be worth more if he could get Mr. King to sign it," said Riggs. 

We don't know the details of that transaction, but we do know that if you open the cover now you'll find that Stephen King signed and dated it.

The article quotes the director of the Shelter, Lucille MacDonald, "I just think it's an ingenius way of being able to get a little bit extra to help people out."  Is this the first time a nun has gotten excited about selling Stephen King books?  I wonder.

I like this quote from MacDonald, "People come in and their tanks are empty and they have children and babies and the elderly. The other day an 85-year-old woman came in to the shelter and I was able to give fuel for her."  That's great.

The article states:

The book is on display at Scotties Bookstore at 209 Route 1 in Hancock. 

You can place bids in person, by phone at 667-6834, or by e-mail at scottybooks@yahoo.com. 

UMass Lowell's Stephen King Page

HERE is UMass Lowell's collection of video's from their December 7, Stephen King event.  I find their homepage easier than digging through youtube.

Their website also notes, "King donated his fee from the appearance to help endow a new scholarship fund in his and his wife’s name."  A lovely gesture.

MAINE: Girl Rewarded For Returning Lost Money

Hey, check out Susan B. Weir's article on YAHOO (Shine) titled, Maine Girls Returns Lost Money, Gains Awesome Reward" (HERE)  The girls  name is Abbie Jacobson.

How cool is it. . . it comes from SHINE.

Tabitha and Stephen King Foundation Award Grants to Maine Libraries

In the clutter of several Stephen King news articles – I found this one in particular interesting. This short piece of news was posted at www.maine.gov by Valerie Osborne, August 8,2012.

During the month of July several Maine libraries received news that they had been awarded grants from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. Once again, Maine libraries are so fortunate to benefit from the generosity of this Foundation. Libraries have shared with us their delight in learning that their library was a recipient of a grant from the Kings in this latest round of awards. Keep in mind that the list includes only those libraries that shared this information with the Maine State Library.

Abel J, Morneault Memorial Library (Van Buren) $20,000 bathroom and entry way renovation 

• Edythe Dyer Community Library (Hampden) $10,000 boiler replacement

• Bingham Union Library $6,000 replace furnace

• Lincoln Memorial Library (Lincoln) $1,500 Read it Forward Program 

• Treat Memorial Library (Livermore Falls) $25,000 HVAC project

• Millinocket Memorial Library $30,000 to replace windows

• Brownfield Public Library $800 new conference table

• South Berwick Public Library $50,000 shelving for new facility

King Donates To 11 Year Old's Cancer Fundraising

Ardeana Hamlin at Bangor Daily News has an interesting article about eleven year old Tommy Hosmer, who is raising money to fight cancer.  One of the things Tommy has done to fund raise is sold books.  The article indicates that Stephen King donated a signed book to help with the efforts.

Here’s the portion of the article about King:

Tommy’s first opportunity to help people with cancer came in 2010 in the form of 4,000 books a neighbor gave him to sell to raise money for a trip to Disney World the family was planning. Tommy told his parents he would rather donate the money from the sale of the books to EMMC’s CancerCare of Maine. With guidance from his parents, Tommy planned the book and bake sale, which featured a raffle for a book autographed and donated by Stephen King, and a bottle drive. He raised $3,000.

The full article is HERE.

King's Foundation Contributes To MEALS FROM MAINE

The Bangor Daily News has an article about Meals From Maine, which is sending 100,000 meals to starving children around the world.  Supported by: The Global Aid Network (GaiN), Feed My Starving Children, and $5,000 from The Tabitha and Stephen King Foundation.  Instrumental to the work at hand have been local churches and businesses who have provided space, volunteers and funding.

I like this quote from one of the volunteers, Bruce Knight: "I think we are actually blessed in this country. . . This seems like the very least we can do to help others.”  That's great!

The full article is HERE.   It’s pretty neat what these people are doing.

King raises $240k to help low income heating

This is a great Christmas story running on MSN's homepage.

Associated Press has an article titled, "Stephen King raises $240,000 to pay Mainers' oil bills."  (HERE)  That exceeds what King expected to raise when he promised to match $70,000 in donations.  However, a California donor offered another $50,000 if King would match it.  Of course, he did.