Remember to register for the June 12-16 Boston conference

It’s past when we requested registrations to be turned in, but there’s still time to register for the Second Biennial John Updike Society Conference, June 12-16. The conference is co-sponsored and hosted by Suffolk University, on Beacon Hill near the start of the Freedom Trail, and it promises to be something special. For this conference we even have two housing options to accommodate different budgets and needs: the dorms at Suffolk, and Holiday Inn of Boston at Beacon Hill. Be advised that if you’re driving, parking at the Holiday Inn is an additional $40 or so for each night.

UPDIKE IN BOSTON (Registration and Holiday Inn information)

Suffolk dorm housing reservations

If you’re planning on attending, now’s the time to let us know, so we can begin to finalize things like bus and Woodman’s banquet reservations and our tour of Fenway Park. We had an incredibly congenial group at the First Biennial John Updike Society Conference, and people have said they’re looking forward to seeing colleagues and friends once more.

Certainly, everyone is eager to hear Joyce Carol Oates’ keynote remarks. Board member Jack De Bellis passed along this recent article about Ms. Oates.

If you have any questions, please email jplath@iwu.edu.

In memoriam: Brent G. Worley

We report with sadness that John Updike Society member Brent G. Worley, 64, died on April 16, 2012 after a long battle with cancer. A resident of Berks County, Pennsylvania, and a longtime member of the Governor Mifflin School Board, Brent was an avid reader and collector of John Updike’s works who had amassed a near-complete set of autographed first trade editions of Updike’s works. He will be missed.

Here is his obituary, as it appeared in the Reading Eagle. It contains details about the memorial service on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

Our sympathies go out to his wife, Professor Rebecca Baker Worley.

It’s true: the Society is considering buying the Updike boyhood home

For the past several months, and with the authorization of the Board, the Society has been in discussions with a Shillington realtor, a benefactor, and current owners regarding the possible purchase of the John Updike childhood home at 117 Philadelphia Ave. We were trying to work quietly behind-the-scenes and not announce anything until we actually had something concrete to report, like a signed agreement. But one of the owners of the house went public with the story because he felt things weren’t moving quickly enough.

Here’s the Reading Eagle story about the “Author’s childhood home in limbo.” 

We have foundation support lined up to enable us to purchase the home and to cover a significant portion of the maintenance into the future. We believe that Updike is an important American author and that his home should be not only preserved as a historic site, but made available to the public in some small way. We think that the Society purchasing and maintaining the home will be a good thing for Shillington and the Greater Reading area. I’ve been in touch with three author homes that operate as museums or literary centers in heavily residential areas in three different states, and have learned that the amount of traffic will actually be minimal—with less coming and going than if a family lived there, or renters, or a business. As a result, we believe that Society ownership of the house will be a good thing for the neighborhood and for Shillington; however, if the people of Shillington aren’t of the same mind, then we’re comfortable walking away from this, because when all is said and done, it’s the works themselves that speak to Updike’s legacy.

So where are things at? Well, you’ve all seen that the house was first listed on eBay and never sold, and the article indicates that the owners previously offered it to Alvernia University and the Burough of Shillington—again, with no interest. We are very interested in acquiring the property and are moving forward, but we wish to respect the process and go through proper channels, letting local residents know of our intentions, then applying for a variance . . . if we can do so without great risk or expense. Likewise, if our desire to pursue this through proper channels puts the owners in an untenable position, we’ve told the owners that they can put the property on the market again.

When we have something to report, we’ll report it here. We apologize that our members weren’t the first to read about this, but we were as surprised as anybody when one of the owners went public with this. He seems to think that public opinion will help us get the variance; we’re of the mind that proper channels are the way to go.