Dean Koontz - 1945
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San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California
Read other essays on Dean Koontz written by Pennsylvania student
Adam Sobol and New Hampshire student Brynne-Ithaca Dizack.I. Biography Dean Ray Koontz was born in Everett, Pennsylvania on July 9,
1945. He is an only child with a very harsh background. His father was an alcoholic and later diagnosed as mentally ill. His mother was prone to illness and was never there when Koontz needed her. His parents did
not encourage him to read or write; they actually discouraged him to do so. They considered books and reading to be a waste of time and money. Even though his parents
did not support him, Koontz found refuge in writing novels and short stories as a child. Books took Koontz into a world unlike the one he was living in reality. As a child, Koontz
wanted to give other people the same escape he felt when he read books. Throughout his life he found shelter in reading and writing novels that take him away from reality.
Koontz began selling his work at the early age of eight. He would write original stories, design a cover, and sell them to relatives and neighbors for a nickel each. At twelve he
entered a newspaper essay competition and ended up winning it. He won a brand new watch and twenty-five dollars. Koontz was a smart child and learned that one thing was very important, money.
Koontz grew up and went to Shippensburg State College, where he won a fiction contest as a senior. This was the start of his regular fiction writing, which has still not ended. At
the age of twenty, while still in college, he had his first real book sale called Kittens. After his graduation from Shippensburg State College he received his first job with the
Appalachian Poverty Program. This program was designed to help educate and tutor underprivileged children on a one-on-one basis. On the first day Koontz was frightened to
find out that the last person to hold the job was brutally beaten and put in the hospital by the children he was teaching. Koontz was very aware of his surroundings and of people he
helped while holding the job. He held this job for a year, from 1966 to 1967, and had many battles and challenges while there. Another important thing happened to Koontz in the year of 1966. On October 15, 1966
Koontz was married to a beautiful woman named Gerda. Koontz went back to work as a high school English teacher near the town of Harrisburg. He never could fully devote
himself to writing like he would have liked to do. So, in 1969, his wife offered him the dream he has always wanted. Gerda offered to support him for five years so he could pursue his
writing career. Koontz made full use of this time and at the end of the five years his writing career was booming. His wife, Gerda, even quit her job to take care of the finances of his
writing career. He wrote many novels and short stories over the next few years and then moved to Orange Hills, California where they both presently live with no children. II. Other Influences
Many writers in his life have influenced Dean Koontz. John D. Macdonald is the one that probably stands at the top of the list. In interviews Koontz refers to Macdonald as a
"brilliant writer" and has said, "When I read something like Slam the Big Door, Cry Hard Cry Fast, The Damned, and The End of the Night, I usually arrived at the last page
thinking, 'O.K. Koontz, face it, you don't belong in the same craft as this man; go learn plumbing, Koontz get yourself an honest trade.'" Dean Koontz has a very unique respect
for John D. Macdonald and his works. Koontz also respects many other writers and their works. Koontz admits to his obsessive-compulsive behavior, which drives him to accept nothing but the best from himself.
Yes, writers did influence his life very much, but so did something else. Dean Koontz was also influenced by humor throughout his life. Dean Koontz expresses his love for humor in
a quote, which says, "Ever since I was a kid, I loved humor of the absurd. Ernie Kovacs, Stan Freberg, Jack Douglas, Ed Bluestone, early Steve Martin, recently Stephen
Wright—all of those guys with the really strange edge can make me laugh until I'm too limp to stand up. Then I have to be taken to a dry cleaner to be steamed, starched, and
pressed, but thereafter I'm as good as new." Dean Koontz has not only been influenced by other writers, but also by comedians. III. Literary Works The Fall of the Dream Machine (1969) IV. Sources
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 1998
This essay was submitted by a student of Kathy Honda Stein, a teacher at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, California.
Fear That Man (1969)
Anti-Man (1970)
Beastchild (1970)
The Dark of the Woods (1970)
The Dark Symphony (1970)
The Haunted Earth (1970)
Hell's Gate (1970)
The Crimson Witch (1971)
Demon Child (1971)
Chase (1972)
Children of the Storm (1972)
Dance With the Devil (1972)
Darkness in My Soul (1972)
The Flesh in the Furnace (1972)
Time Thieves (1972)
Warlock (1972)
Blood Risk (1973)
Demon Seed (1973)
Shattered (1973)
A Werewolf Among Us (1973)
Hanging On (1973)
After the Last Race (1974)
Strike Deep (1974)
Surrounded (1974)
Invasion (1975)
The Long Sleep (1975)
Dragonfly (1975)
The Wall of Masks (1975)
Night Chills (1976)
Prison of Ice (1976)
Legacy of Terror (1977)
The Face of Fear (1977)
The Vision (1977)
The Key to Midnight (1979)
The Funhouse (1980)
Whispers (1980)
The Mask (1981)
The Eyes of Darkness (1981)
The House of Thunder (1982)
Phantoms (1983)
Darkfall (1984)
The Servants of Twilight (1984)
Twilight (1984)
The Door to December (1985)
Strangers (1986)
Shadowfires (1987)
Twilight Eyes (1987)
Watchers (1987)
Lightning (1988)
Oddkins (1988)
The Voice of the Night (1988)
The Bad Place (1990)
Midnight (1990)
Cold Fire (1991)
Hideaway (1992)
Mr. Murder (1993)
Dragon Tears (1993)
Dark Rivers of the Heart (1994)
Winter Moon (1994)
Intensity (1996)
Sole Survivor (1997)
Fear Nothing (1998)
* Including many short stories.
Koontz, Dean. Mr. Murder. New York: Puntam, 1993.
Koontz, Dean. Fear Nothing Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1998.