As with the previous John Updike Society conference hosted by Alvernia, plenary sessions that would appeal to local residents are “open,” and Berks-Mont recently posted a story on David Updike’s upcoming conference talk at 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 2 in Francis Hall Theater.

“There will be family pictures and some artwork, along with my own narrative and excerpts from my father’s writing as well as his mother, Linda Grace Hoyer, who was born and died in Plowville and published two collections of short stories,” Updike said.

Updike also mentioned The John Updike Childhood Home, which the society owns and is in the process of turning it into a museum and literary center.

“I am happy his home is being turned into a museum. I hope it has a useful life beyond the occasional tourists, something like a writing center for local students manned by college students,” Updike said.

The details of management will be decided by the board, which consists of JUS board members plus the curator and a representative of the Updike family—with Elizabeth Cobblah Updike serving the first term. Right now, the house is still a “deconstruction” zone. Then comes the construction, and finally decisions pertaining to the running of the museum and extent to which the house can be used as a literary center.

But the general consensus is that the house should indeed be used by writers and students. Before the society board voted to establish a board to run the house, they approved remodeling of the annex to include an education room, where classes could meet, lectures could be given, and a video on Updike in Pennsylvania could be shown on a TV monitor.

“David Updike will share photos, narrative and excerpts at upcoming conference”