Society member Frank Fitzpatrick, a self-described “Updike fanatic” who has written about Updike for NPR and the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he has worked in the sports department since 1980, will be featured this Thursday, May 20, in a program at the Scranton Albright Memorial Public Library. In “John Updike’s Pennsylvania with Journalist Frank Fitzpatrick,” Fitzpatrick will show slides of Updike’s Pennsylvania and talk about the connection between place and the prolific writer’s work.

“Mr. Fitzpatrick read one of Mr. Updike’s early ‘Rabbit’ novels where the main character also played basketball,” library spokesperson Evelyn Gibbons told the Scranton Times-Tribune. “He became captivated by Mr. Updike’s novels and by the eloquent and insightful way Mr. Updike wrote about sports.”

Fitzpatrick is the author of three books, one of which was a 2001 Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is perhaps best known for The Lion in Autumn: A Season with Joe Paterno and Penn State Football.

The program, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Periodicals Room, is free to the public, but tickets are required. They are available at the Circulation Desk. For more information, contact the library (570) 348-3000 or visit their website.