Stephen King's 3 Children: All About Naomi, Joe and Owen

Mar. 15, 2025

Owen King (left) and Stephen King visit the SiriusXM Studios on September 26, 2017 in New York City.Photo:Astrid Stawiarz/Getty

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty

Stephen Kinghas three kids, and it’s probably not surprising that they are a talented literary bunch.

Stephen and wife Tabitha King have been married since January 1971, and have three children together: Naomi, Joe and Owen. Both Stephen and Tabitha are successful authors, so it makes sense that reading and writing have always played a huge role in the family’s life. In fact, two of their kids are now successful authors themselves.

In another interview withParade, Stephen talked about how he got his kids interested in reading at an early age, mainly to keep them entertained.

“The kids would be tearing all over the house, and I’d be trying to think of something I could do with them,” he said. “One day, out of desperation, I got a couple ofSpider-Mancomic books. I didn’t expect much, but they went nuts for that stuff. All of them read early.” His children developed a love for reading and storytelling and each went down their own path when it came to writing.

All of Stephen and Tabitha’s children have made a name for themselves in some way. Here’s everything to know about Stephen King’s children.

Naomi King, 54

Stephen King, Joe King and Naomi King.todostephenking/instagram

todostephenking/instagram

Naomi King was born on June 1, 1970. The most private of the King siblings, Naomi is also the only one who isn’t a published author. She has worked in restaurants and as a minister for the River of Grass Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Florida, and has been known as a gay activist.

Although she hasn’t written any books like the rest of her family, Naomi has described herself as an avid reader and used to play around with writing when she was younger. InTheNew York Timesprofile, her family expressed their confusion about why Naomi doesn’t write, and she responded, “I have different stories, and those are the ones I tell. It’s just a different genre.” (She was referring to the sermons she writes as a minister.)

She also has anInstagram pagethat is mostly dedicated to daily prayers she writes.

Joe King, 52

Joe Hill attends SXSW 2019 “Nos4a2” screening and panel on March 11, 2019, in Austin, Texas.Vivien Killilea/Getty

Vivien Killilea/Getty

Joe started taking a serious interest in writing when he was just a kid. In aNew York Timesprofile, his brother Owen talked about how, even at about 8 years old, Joe would stop playing just to make sure he had time to write every day for at least two hours. It was a rigorous schedule he has kept up with for most of his life.

He went to Vassar College and then moved to New Hampshire, where he started writing full-time under the alias Joe Hill to ensure he stayed out of his father’s shadow. “I was very insecure, and I didn’t want to sell something because someone saw it as a way to make a quick buck and then have it come out and someone would say it was terrible,” he toldTheNew York Times. In 2007, his third published book,Heart-Shaped Box, became a success, and people started to figure out who he was.

In a 2017 interview, Joe toldGQthat while he was trying to make money as a novelist, he started writing and selling screenplays with Owen, something he ended up doing for quite a while.

Eventually, Joe began embracing his father’s success and the similarities between them instead of focusing only on finding his own way. In an essay onLiterary Hub, he wrote, “The unhappy creator finds himself in the shadow of other, bigger artists and resents it. But if you’re lucky — and as I’ve already said, I’ve had more than my fair share of luck, and please God, let it hold — those other, bigger artists cast a light for you to find your way.”

In 2020, Joe’s horror/fantasy comic seriesLocke & Keywas turned into a Netflix show. He has also written short stories with his father. “I mean, me and Dad are on the same team,” he said in aMen’s Healthinterview.

Joe is a dad to five kids. He shares three children with his first wife, Leanora Legrand, whom he divorced in 2010. He remarried Gillian Redfearn in 2018 and the couple welcomed twins together in 2022.

Owen King, 48

Owen King attends Shorts: Call Me Crazy during the 2022 Tribeca Festival on June 11, 2022, in New York City.Arturo Holmes/Getty

Arturo Holmes/Getty

Stephen’s youngest son, Owen attended Vassar College and then did the MFA program at Columbia University School of the Arts, which is where he learned “to write the kind of fiction that I aspired to write,” according to an interview for theCenter for Fiction.

Unlike his brother and father, Owen doesn’t write horror stories. And while he is considered a successful author, he’s not quite as well-known either. However, this doesn’t seem to bother him. Owen toldTheNew York Times, “I think my brother’s and father’s drive for success is greater than mine. I just want to sell enough books to be able to justify continuing to write.”

In 2017, he collaborated with Stephen onSleeping Beauties, a thriller/fantasy novel. “We really did do it for fun,” Owen toldEntertainment Weekly. “We didn’t know if it would be any good or that we would be happy with it. I was really excited that we could have this time together to talk and to work on something, even if it was just for a drawer.”

Owen has also worked with Joe on a variety of different projects, but the two don’t seem to feel much sibling rivalry toward each other. In a 2013 interview withVulture, Owen said, “It’s easy to read Joe and just be a fan; I don’t feel competitive. We’ve written together a little bit, and when we write together we merge pretty seamlessly, but I don’t feel like our writing voices are that similar.”

Owen is married to author Kelly Braffet and they live in upstate New York.

source: people.com