Harlan Ellison, 1934 - Harlan Ellison was born in 1934. He was first published professionally at the age of 15 in the Cleveland News. Ellison has written over 1700 short stories, essays, articles and newspaper columns. He was the first to receive the Living Legend Award by the International Horror Critics in 1995. In 1987, a 35 year retrospective of Ellison's work was published as "The Essential Ellison." Over the course of his career, Ellison has written for "The Outer Limits," "The Starlost" and "The Twilight Zone." He is a co-creator of the "Star Trek" series and is in his fifth season as Conceptual Consultant for "Babylon Five." Ellison is the only author in Hollywood to ever win the… Writer's Guild of America's award for Most Outstanding Teleplay four times, the last time being "Paladin of the Hour" in 1987. He has won the Hugo Award 8 1/2 times, the Nebula Award 3 times, the Bram Stoker Award 5 times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writer's Association, the Edgar Allen Poe Award of the Mystery Writers of America Award twice, the Georges Meilies Fantasy Film Award twice and was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by the PEN International Writer's Union. In March of 1998, the National Women's Committee of Brandeis University awarded Ellison the 1998 Wit, Words and Wisdom Award. He is the editor of "Dangerous Visions" anthologies as well as "Medea: Harlan's World," and has received the Milford Award for for Lifetime Achievement in Editing. Ellison is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild with voice credits and adapted a short story, "The Face of Helen Bournow" for a Showtime series.
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, he became a teacher. His spare time was spent writing short stories and novels. King's first novel would never have been published if not for his wife. She removed the first few chapters from the garbage after King had thrown them away in frustration. Three months later, he received a $2,500 advance from Doubleday Publishing for the book that went on to sell a modest 13,000 hardcover copies. That book, Carrie, was about a girl with telekinetic powers who is tormented by bullies at school. She uses her power, in turn, to torment… and eventually destroy her mean-spirited classmates. When United Artists released the film version in 1976, it was a critical and commercial success. The paperback version of the book, released after the movie, went on to sell more than two-and-a-half million copies. Many of King's other horror novels have been adapted into movies, including The Shining, Firestarter, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Misery, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers. Under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King has written the books The Running Man, The Regulators, Thinner, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and Rage. King is one of the world's most successful writers, with more than 100 million copies of his works in print. Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages, and he writes new books at a rate of about one per year. In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2012 his title, The Wind Through the Keyhole made The New York Times Best Seller List. King's title's Mr. Mercedes and Revival made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2014.