U.S. to honor Stephen King and Puerto Rican actress Miriam Colon

The U.S. government will honor acclaimed horror novelist Stephen King and Puerto Rican actress Miriam Colon for their cultural contributions to the country, the White House announced Thursday.

On Sept. 10, U.S. President Barack Obama will present the 2014 National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals, awarded every year for excellence in these respective fields.

Both King and Colon will receive the National Medal of Arts.

“One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Mr. King combines his remarkable storytelling with his sharp analysis of human nature,” the White House said.

“For decades, his works of horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy have terrified and delighted audiences around the world,” it added.

“Ms. Colon has been a trailblazer in film, television, and theater, and helped open doors for generations of Hispanic actors,” the White House lauded the founder of New York City’s Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, 1969.

Other recipients of the National Medals of Arts include visual artist John Baldessari, theater director Ping Chong, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, actor Sally Field, visual artist Ann Hamilton, composer Meredith Monk, tenor George Shirley, the University Musical Society, and author and educator Tobias Wolff.

Recipients of the National Humanities Medals include historian Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, writer Annie Dillard, The Clemente Course In The Humanities, novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein and writer Alice Waters.

Honors will also be conferred on novelist Larry McMurtry, architect Everett L. Fly, writer Jhumpa Lahiri, Professor Fedwa MaltiDouglas and historian Vicki Lynn Ruiz.