Stephen King headed to FSU
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo (“Empire Falls") has canceled his upcoming reading Feb. 21 as the literary star of this year's Seven Days of Opening Nights arts festival at Florida State.
But wait until you get a load of Russo's last-minute replacement.
Stephen King, who is possibly the most widely-read writer in the country, agreed to cover for Russo with an appearance as part of Seven Days on Feb. 26.
"(King) said he could make it on that date, and we just lucked up," FSU creative-writing professor and "The Godfather Returns" novelist Mark Winegardner said Friday. "We knew we were really asking a favor. ... There's a short list of writers who could step into Rick's shoes."
The sudden substitution left Seven Days organizers scrambling with logistics on Friday afternoon.
"All the Richard Russo tickets already sold will be honored at the King appearance," FSU Special Projects Coordinator Fran Conaway said.
King tickets are expected to go on sale early next week - most likely by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Russo, who last visited FSU in February 1998 before he won the Pulitzer, was forced to nix his Seven Days visit because of a family medical crisis. King and Russo both live and write in Maine.
"I've never met King, but he's good friends with him (Russo)," Winegardner said. "That helped."
"We're really excited that someone of King's caliber is coming to the festival, but we're also very sorry about losing Richard Russo," Conaway said.
"My friend (the novelist) Jonathan Lethem likes to joke that there's two kinds of famous," said Winegardner, who gave his wife credit with coming up with the idea of a last-minute writer substitute. "There's writer-famous and then there's famous-famous. Stephen King is one of the few writers who is definitely famous-famous."
King's lengthy list of best-selling books includes "Carrie," "The Stand," "The Shining," "The Dead Zone," "It" and "Pet Sematary." His writing has been adapted for numerous films including "Stand By Me," "Hearts in Atlantis," "Dolores Claiborne," "Cujo" and "Apt Pupil." Director Stanley Kubrick's screen version of "The Shining" released in 1980 is often cited by critics as being one of the best horror movies ever made.
stephen kingmark winegardner
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