First, let me say I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Thanks for sharing such a detailed account of your Dark Tower discovery, I love reading these type of "first time" reading Stephen King experiences. The Paul Harvey reference is perfect, lol. Btw, when did you first read a SK book? Which one?
the very 1st was It, like i said, on the recommendation of my brother. His name was Kevin. He was a high school math and science teacher...the kids loved him, especially when he blew up the science lab. heh! i forget the details, but i remember him saying he panicked, was looking at kids, seeing if any were bleeding or not. i think something shot into the ceiling tile. yeah...four-wheeler, wiped out, the 30th of june, hottest day of that year, 2002. anyway, kevin tells me, here' read this, this is good, it's about a clown...and then he gave me some detail how the clown can take different shapes. i think it was...i dunno...maybe '96? give or take a year. i read dreamcatcher when it was published. '99? was on another board, local, and a friend there had posted a cover, thought it was cool, and was intrigued by how the story starts. i deer hunt, too. enjoy time in a tree each fall...so quiet. winter in a tree is nice, too...i'd stay there all night, so incredibly quiet, nice if the snow is falling, you can hear footsteps, the snow packing beneath the deer's hooves, that slow approach, just the noise and then movement. their entire life is on guard, watchful.
i've read It a number of times, four or more, five maybe? i lost track. i don't think there's a story, save the ones i've yet to read, that i haven't read multiple times.