Tag Archives: Richard Chizmar

Carrie: The Curious Case of George Chizmar by Richard Chizmar

Richard's Essays

On page 82 of the first edition hardcover edition of CARRIE, we are introduced to a character by the name of George Chizmar:

“George Chizmar, Ewen’s most artistic student, had done a small chalk sketch of gondolas on a canal at sunset and a gondolier in a huge straw fedora leaning against the tiller as a gorgeous panoply of pinks and reds and oranges stained both sky and water.”

I remember being stunned, and more than a little pleased, the first time I read that sentence. I had never before seen my last name (trust me, it’s not a common one) in any work of fiction, so for it to appear in my favorite author’s debut novel was quite a thrill.

Of course, it also led to many years of inevitable questions: did Stephen King name Ewen’s most artistic student after you, Rich? Did he know your father? Your uncle? » Read more

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Revisiting Carrie by Richard Chizmar

Richard's Essays

THAT WAS THEN…

So, I sit down a couple weeks ago and write my introduction to Stephen King Revisited and I go on and on about how King’s books carry so many personal memories for me — where I was when I first read them, who I was, what I was thinking — and now it comes time to discuss the very first King book, CARRIE, and I realize…ummmm, my memory of this one isn’t quite so clear, folks.

Great way to start this journey, huh?

But it actually makes sense when I think about it.

CARRIE was originally published in April 1974. I was eight years old at the time and busy fishing and collecting baseball cards and playing whiffle ball in the side yard with my friends. My only exposure to horror at that early age were comic books and the Saturday afternoon Creature Double Features on television. » Read more

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Richard Chizmar Reading Carrie In His Office

News & Updates

Richard Chizmar was caught reading on the job today. For the record, he’s on page 145 of 199:

Richard Chizmar Reading Carrie

This would be a great time for you to join in and read along! You can order an eBook and start right now, and Carrie won’t take you long to finish. Here are some links:

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
iTunes/iBookstore
Kobo

After Carrie, Rich will be reading ‘Salem’s Lot and posting his thoughts by Thanksgiving here in the US. Here are the eBook store links if you want to snag a copy of Stephen King’s classic small town vampire novel:

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
iTunes/iBookstore
Kobo

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Introduction to Stephen King Revisited by Richard Chizmar

Richard's Essays

Like many longtime readers, I can chart the course of my life by when and where I read most of Stephen King’s books. Bag of Bones was sitting by a friend’s hospital bed every day for a week. Insomnia while laying in a hospital bed myself. Black House in a three day frenzy at the beach after a surprise phone call from Akiva Goldsman asking me to help adapt the novel into a screenplay. And IT, as a college junior, the week after I walked away from a collegiate lacrosse career that I believed at the time defined me as a human being. In that regard, IT may have just saved the life of a very lost and very confused young man. At the very least, it carved the path for my writing and editing career and gave me something to dream about again.

 

 

Pretty much all of Steve’s books are like that for me. Personal. Meaningful. Special. Most of the early ones seemed to magically come along at just the right time for me. I’ve listened to many other readers, writers, and editors tell me the same thing about Steve’s books and their own lives.
— Richard Chizmar, from the afterword to PS Publishing’s anniversary edition of Christine

* * *

Rereading Christine and writing the afterword was like traveling back to my youth in a time machine. I turned the pages, and I was a teenager again, carrying around a tattered, old paperback. Experiencing the novel for the first time. Walking the hallways of my high school. Hurrying to practice after the final bell. And hanging out with friends and classmates, kids very much like Dennis and Arnie and Leigh from Christine. » Read more

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