Stephen King wants Maine's governor to apologize for saying he didn't pay taxes

The governor of Maine has learned the hard way that if you make an author — specifically Stephen King — angry, you'll get scolded in colorful terms on a variety of platforms.

The conflict began when Gov. Paul LePage (R) stated in his weekly radio address that King no longer lives in Maine or pays income taxes in the state. This is absolutely untrue, King said. "Governor LePage is full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green," King wrote in a message to Bangor's The Pulse AM 620, which he owns. "Tabby [King's wife] and I pay every cent of our Maine state income taxes, and are glad to do it. We feel, as Governor LePage apparently does not, that much is owed from those to whom much has been given." He also sent an email to the Portland Press Herald, saying that in 2013, he paid approximately $1.4 million in state taxes.

On Twitter, King — a Democrat who endorsed LePage's rival in the 2014 election — called the governor out again, saying he "implied that I don't pay my taxes. I do. Every cent. I think he needs to man up and apologize." King waited a few days, and then gave his followers an update: "No apology from Governor LePage. Some guys are a lot better at dishing it out than taking it back." Don't be surprised if King gets his revenge in a new book featuring a vile politician named Saul LeSage.

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