People in the News Snapshot

By The Standard Staff - 01/20/2008

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Best-selling author Stephen King has turned 60, a milestone that forces him to accept that he’s no longer middle-aged.

“I look the same as I ever did when I look in the mirror. I can still see the kid there. But people see you see someone who’s older. I went to a movie theater, and the woman asked if I wanted my golden-ager discount. I asked how old you have to be for that, and she said 65. I said ‘Not yet, dear,”‘ King, whose birthday was in September, told the Bangor Daily News.

In a wide-ranging interview, the longtime supporter of Democratic candidates said he is backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president.

“We need a big change,” King said. “It’s an amazing thing to see the two frontrunners be a woman and a black man. Obama has the least baggage of the two and is willing to try new things. It wouldn’t be business as usual. Also it would do wonders for us in the world community to have a black man in the White House,” he said.