It’s Good To Be King (304 pages, CC Imprint, 2023), a collection of stories, essays, anecdotes, and observations by King Harris, is now available in hardback from Bookshop.org or your favorite online bookseller, and as an E-book from Amazon.com or your favorite online retailer. It is available in paperback now from this website.
Writing shortly before his death in June 2022, King Harris discussed the book he was preparing for publication. He wrote:
“Whether I used a camera, a microphone, or a typewriter, I have been able to capture a brief moment of their lives from my curious perspective, which, as warped as many people believe it to be, allows me the opportunity to try to find a few answers to all my unlimited questions. For this reason alone, it’s good to be King, if only for a while. We all have stories to tell. Here are some of mine.”
Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction to It’s Good To Be King :
There once was a time, during my youth, when my grandfather had erected a small wooden sign at the entrance to the country road I grew up on in Woodside, California. It read:
Mountain Home Road
Please drive thoughtfully
Look out for memories
Back then such advice was obviously intended for older folk than I, but the message wasn’t lost on me entirely. The winding ways of Woodside would eventually lead me to other destinations far and wide, with memories as promised by my grandfather flourishing in the rearview mirror.
I managed as a television and radio news broadcaster and print reporter to meet with and briefly chronicle the affairs of some pretty amazing people from all walks of life. And by good fortune I got to write about my experiences, perceptions and observances of one growing up and getting older, which, I’m willing to bet, aren’t that much different than yours.
It’s Good To Be King is a collection that I have written in the form of news accounts and features, and that I would like to present to you in the form of a book. It is a reference to my first name, one that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend giving any child under the age of 12. Yet it might be useful later in life if the owner chooses the right profession along with a therapist savvy enough to echo my grandfather’s advice: drive thoughtfully and look out for memories, no matter what road you travel.
~ King Harris, 2022