Man Spends Decades Collecting Thousands of Rare Stephen King Books and Manuscripts and They've Been Destroyed

A Stephen King enthusiast by the name of Gerald Winters spent the past two decades collecting all kinds of rare Stephen King memorabilia. They include thousands of rare books, seven original typed manuscripts for books like Maximum Overdrive and The Eyes of the Dragon, signed copies, prints in different languages, and rare ephemera.

Life dealt Winters an awful blow recently when the majority of this collection was completely destroyed after a water main burst near his business and flooded the basement where most of his collection was being kept temporarily. 

Winters moved from Thailand to Bangor, Maine, the hometown of Stephen King, to open up a shop where he would but these things on display for the fans to see. He hoped to one day open up a small museum dedicated to King and his work.

Those dreams are now dead. A water main burst on Main Street, that was near the front of his business, Gerald Winters & Son. The broken main flooded his basement with chest-high water, soaking all the irreplaceable collection that included over 2,000 items. That collection also included rare and signed copies of works from J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin.

I know some of you are wondering why he would keep that stuff in a basement. Well, it was just supposed to be temporary. According to Bangor Daily News, he had moved much of his inventory to the basement while he reorganized his shop." So, had he not made the decision to reorganize, his collection would be fine.

In the end, he lost 90% of his entire collection. In an interview, he quietly said, "You can’t replace this stuff." I can't help but feel so bad for the guy who is obviously going to be in mourning for some time. 20 years of his life was dedicated to collecting this stuff and now it's gone.