He just followed his dad’s shining example
Joe Hill knew it was only a matter of time before one of publishing’s hottest secrets became common knowledge. He just wished he could have kept it under wraps a bit longer.
But when his thriller “Heart-Shaped Box” came out last month, it was inevitable that his thoroughbred bloodline would be out there for all to see – as the older son of Stephen King.
“I really wanted to allow myself to rise and fall on my own merits,” says Hill, 34, who spent 10 years writing short stories and an unpublished novel. “One of the good things about it was that it let me make my mistakes in private.”
His moniker did not come out of the blue. He is legally Joseph Hillstrom King, named for the union organizer whose 1915 execution for murder in Utah inspired the labor anthem “Joe Hill.”
His parents, who came of age during the 1960s, “were both pretty feisty liberals and looked at Joe Hill as a heroic figure,” he says.
“Heart-Shaped Box” – a title drawn from a song by the rock group Nirvana – is a fast-paced tale about an over-the-hill heavy metal rocker with a strange hobby: amassing ghoulish artifacts.
The book has drawn good reviews, and with its cinematic (and bloody) ending, Warner Bros. snapped up movie rights six months before the book hit the market.
Inklings about Hill’s family background started appearing in online message boards in 2005 when his collection of short stories, “20th Century Ghosts,” was published in Britain.
Similarities in subject matter and appearance – Hill has his father’s bushy eyebrows and the dark beard he sported decades ago – were enough to stir suspicion among horror fans.
Only when his identity was trumpeted in Variety last year did he realize that the secret was gone for good. Still, his pen name had a good ride; the editor of “Heart-Shaped Box” was unaware of the King connection, and Hill’s agent remained in the dark for eight years before the author spilled the beans two years ago.
Hill’s decision to follow his father’s career should come as no surprise. His mother, Tabitha King, has been turning out novels for decades. His younger brother, Owen King, came out in 2005 with a well-received novella and short story collection that is more literary than horrific.
The only sibling who has yet to make it into print is Naomi King, oldest of the three, who has switched careers from restaurateur to Unitarian minister. But she is working on a nonfiction project: a book-length study of the sermon as literary text and its place in American culture.
At a recent panel discussion, Stephen King said he wouldn’t rule out a collaboration with his sons.
“I guess anything’s possible,” he said. “I took them on my knee, read them stories, changed their diapers, and now they’re all grown up and they have become writers, of all things.
“I am really proud of them. I guess we’ll see what happens down the road.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Peter Graves is 81. Author John Updike is 75. Country singer Charley Pride is 69. Actor Brad Dourif is 57. Singer Vanessa Williams is 44. Rapper-actress Queen Latifah is 37. Actor-comedian Dane Cook is 35. Singer Adam Levine (Maroon 5) is 28.