Mordred, like something out of a Chas Addams cartoon. That I sort of understand; it must refer
to Susannah’s baby in the Dark Tower stories. It’s the other thing that puzzles me. It says 6/19/99.
O Discordia.
Discordia also sounds like something out of the DT stories, but it’s not anything I have
invented. As for 6/19/99, that’s a date, right? Meaning what? June 19th of this year. Tabby and I should be back at the Turtleback Lane house by then, but so far as I can remember it’s not
anybody’s birthday.
Maybe it’s the date I’m going to meet my first walk-in!
June 12, 1999
It’s wonderful to be back at the lake!
I’ve decided to take 10 days off, then finally return to work on the how-to-write book. I’m
curious about Hearts in Atlantis; will folks want to know if Bobby Garfield’s friend Ted
Brautigan plays a part in the Tower saga? The truth is I really don’t know the answer to that. In any case, readership of the Tower stories has fallen off a lot lately — the figures are really
disappointing, compared to that of my other books (except for Rose Madder, which was a real
tankjob, at least in the sales sense). But it doesn’t matter, at least to me, and if the series ever gets done, sales may go up.
Tabby and I had another argument about my walking route; she asked me again to quit going
out on the main road. Also she asked me “Is the wind blowing yet?” Meaning am I thinking about the next Dark Tower story. I said no, commala-come-come, the tale has not begun. But it
will, and there’s a dance called the commala in it. That’s the one thing I see clearly: Roland
dancing. Why, or for whom, I don’t know.
Anyway, I asked T. why she wanted to know about the Dark Tower and she said, “You’re
safer when you’re with the gunslingers.”
Joking I suppose, but an odd joke for T. Not much like her.
June 17, 1999
Talked with Rand Holsten and Mark Carliner tonight. They both sounded excited about
moving on from Storm of the Century to Rose Red (or Kingdom Hospital), but either one would
fill my plate up again.
I dreamed of my walk last night & wike up crying. The Tower will fall, I thought. O
Discordia, the world grows dark.
????
Headline from the Portland Press-Herald, June 18, 1999:
“WALK-IN” PHENOMENON IN WESTERN MAINE
CONTINUES TO RESIST EXPLANATION
June 19, 1999
This is like one of those times when all the planets line up, except in this case it’s my family all lined up here on Turtleback Lane. Joe and his family arrived around noon; their little boy is really cute. Say true! Sometimes I look in the mirror and say, “You are a grandfather.” And the Steve in the mirror just laughs, because the idea is so ridiculous. The Steve in the mirror knows I’m still a college sophomore, going to classes and protesting the war in Viet Nam by day,
drinking beer down at Pat’s Pizza with Flip Thompson and George McLeod by night. As for my
grandson, the beautiful Ethan? He just tugs on the balloon tied to his toe and laughs.
Daughter Naomi and son Owen got here late last night. We had a great Father’s Day dinner;
people saying things to me that were so nice I had to check to make sure I wasn’t dead! God, I’m lucky to have family, lucky to have more stories to tell, lucky to still be alive. The worst thing to happen this week, 1 hope, will be my wife’s bed collapsing under the weight of our son and
daughter-in-law — the idiots were wrestling on it.
You know what? I’ve been thinking of going back to Roland’s story after all. As soon as I
finish the book on writing (On Writing would actually not be a bad title — it’s simple and to the point). But right now the sun is shining, the day is beautiful, and what I’m going to do is take a walk.
More later, maybe.
From the Portland Sunday Telegram, June 20, 1999:
STEPHEN KING DIES NEAR
LOVELL HOME
POPULAR MAINE WRITER KILLED
WHILE TAKING AFTERNOON WALK
INSIDER CLAIMS MAN DRIVING LETHAL
VAN “TOOK EYES OFF THE ROAD” AS HE
APPROACHED KING ON ROUTE 7
By Ray Routhier
LOVELL, ME. (Exclusive) Maine’s most popular author was struck and killed by
a van while walking near his summer home yesterday afternoon. The van was
driven by Bryan Smith of Fryeburg. According to sources close to the case, Smith
has admitted that he “took his eyes off the road” when one of his Rottweilers got
out of the back of the van and began nosing into a cooler behind the driver’s seat.
“I never even saw him,” Smith is reported to have said shortly after the
collision, which took place on what locals call Slab City Hill.
King, author of such popular novels as It, ‘Salem’s Lot, The Shining, and The
Stand, was taken to Northern Cumberland Memorial Hospital in Bridgton, where
he was pronounced dead at 6:02 PM Saturday evening. He was 52 years old.
A hospital source said the cause of death was extensive head injuries. King’s
family, which had gathered in part to celebrate Father’s Day, is in seculusion
tonight . . .
Commala-come-come,
The battle’s now begun!
And all the foes of men and rose
Rise with the setting sun.
Wordslinger’s Note
I’d once more like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Robin Furth, who read this
novel in manuscript — and those preceding it — with great and sympathetic attention to detail. If this increasingly complex tale hangs together, Robin should get most of the credit. And if you
don’t believe it, check out her Dark Tower concordance, which makes fascinating reading in and of itself.
Thanks are also due to Chuck Verrill, who has edited the final five novels in the Tower cycle,
and to the three publishers, two large and one small, who cooperated to make this massive
project a reality: Robert Wiener (Donald M. Grant, Publisher), Susan Petersen Kennedy and
Pamela Dorman (Viking), Susan Moldow and Nan Graham (Scribner). Special thanks to Agent
Moldow, whose irony and bravery have saved many a bleak day. There are others, plenty of
them, but I’m not going to annoy you with the whole list. After all, this ain’t the fucking
Academy Awards, is it?
Certain geographical details in this book and in the concluding novel of the Tower cycle have
been fictionalized. The real people mentioned in these pages have been used in a fictional way.
And to the best of my knowledge, there were never coin-op storage lockers in the World Trade
Center.
As for you, Constant Reader . . .
One more turn of the path, and then we reach the clearing.
Come along with me, will ya not?
Stephen King
May 28, 2003