Oh, I totally agree there were other people who made more significant contributions to the year, I'm all for voting for whoever you think was important... but I think that the effect of Stephenie's books... and subsequently the movies... on reading in general (re: library traffic up considerably, bookstore sales in the paranormal genre skyrocketting), on parents and children sharing the book experience (re: Twilight Moms, and Twilight Teens), on the media as a whole (re: ComicCon, every entertainment "news show", and countless other interviews and appearances) WAS profound, and was important to the year. Should she be #1... ummm... probably not... but on the list?.. most definitely.
*stepping off my soapbox now, lol*
ps... Mr. King is entitled to his opinion, and that's lovely, but his opinion doesn't have any affect on mine :-)