Is Stephen King retiring? Recent comments echo those he's made before

NEW YORK (AP) _ Is Stephen King REALLY going to retire? The author recently stated that he had five more books to write and then, ``That's it. I'm done.'' ``You get

Thursday, January 31st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Is Stephen King REALLY going to retire?

The author recently stated that he had five more books to write and then, ``That's it. I'm done.''

``You get to a point where you get to the edges of a room, and you can go back and go where you've been and basically recycle stuff,'' said King, whose many best sellers include ``Bag of Bones,'' ``Dreamcatcher'' and ``Hearts in Atlantis.''

``You can either continue to go on, or say I left when I was still on (the) top of my game. I left when I was still holding the ball, instead of it holding me.''

His comments appeared in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.

But King, 54, has said he'd quit before and since 1997 has included a message on his official Web site. Under a link for ``The Rumors,'' King addresses the question, ``Is it true that he has retired?''

``That hasn't happened yet,'' he responds. ``There are still books coming out through both Scribner and Pocket Books and plans to complete The Dark Tower series, so there will be new books for several more years to come.''

His agent, Arthur Greene, was skeptical about King's recent statements.

``He's spoken about retiring many times in the past,'' Greene told The Associated Press Thursday. ``In my own mind, I think it's unlikely he'll stop working.''

A spokeswoman for King said the author had not yet read Sunday's article and would have no immediate comment.