Stephen King and 600 more U.S. authors come out against Trump
Stephen King is the master of horror -- but even he has never experienced anything quite as horrific as Donald Trump.
That's the gist of an open letter that's doing the rounds Tuesday, signed by King and more than 600 of his fellow well-known American writers. The luminaries include Cheryl Strayed, Dave Eggers, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, Mary Roach, Tobias Wolff, Richard Russo, Michael Chabon and Roy Blount, Jr.
"As writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power," the letter reads. "American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another."
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"The rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response."
The list of signatories includes more than 10 Pulitzer Prize winners -- but it's also astonishingly geographically diverse, with authors from the heartland more than holding their own against authors from the coasts.
It's also growing fast, with more than 150 names being added to the list since it was first published online Tuesday morning.
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A Twitter account called Writers On Trump has been set up by the letter's creators, novelists Andrew Altschul and Mark Slouka. There's also an online petition that anyone can sign; it currently boasts more than 3,000 signatures.
No word yet on whether King will make Trump the villain in his next novel; America may not be ready for something that terrifying.
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Topics Books Stephen King Donald Trump
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
