Society member Andrew Moorhouse writes from England that an interview John Updike gave to Sue Lawley for Desert Island Discs, a popular BBC radio program, is now online.
In it, he talks about “how he overcame a bad stutter, how he has learnt to control his psoriasis and how now, aged 63, he finally feels normal; part of the gang he never was as a teenager.”
Here’s the link.
Jeffrey Brown, writing a Bleacher Report on “Boston Red Sox Legend Ted Williams To Be Honored by USPS with Postage Stamp,” quoted extensively from Updike’s famous account of Williams’ last game, “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.”
Here’s the article link, with thanks to member Jack De Bellis for drawing our attention to it.
A representative from BBC One confirmed that a series of questions dealing with John Updike’s works will come up on a broadcast of Mastermind later this year. That’s all we can say, because, hey, we don’t want to give anything away and spoil the show. But several members of the Society board were contacted by someone from BBC’s Pronunciation Unit. The BBC is certainly thorough.
Michael Updike writes,
“While in Berks county, Liz, I and kids got to the Reading Museum and we were happy to see that the Drinking Girl fountain is back in her place on the third floor landing. They have our father’s description from The Centaur on display.
However, there is a slight twist to this situation in that from the water of the fountain emerges several Dale Chihuly red, green and yellow glass “reeds.” The girl is surrounded by them. It was a site-specific work that the museum commissioned, but I’m not convinced it is a successful marriage of contemporary glass and nineteenth century figurative work . . . although from the back the reeds rhythmically mimic her S-shaped posture.”
According to the Reading Public Museum, which hasn’t displayed Drinking Girl (by sculptor Edward McCartan) for three years prior to its current exhibition in conjunction with “Tiffany Lamps: Articles of Utility, Objects of Art,” the fountain that made a lasting impression on a young John Updike will remain on display for at least another six months. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. They are closed on Mondays. Admission is $8.00.
Bruce Posten wrote a story for the Reading Eagle. This report was written by Society board member Jack De Bellis:
In Plowville Cemetery, where generations of John Updike’s relatives rest, John Updike’s children, Liz, David, Michael and Miranda gathered to show publicly their love for their father. The ceremony took the form of the placing of a headstone carved by Michael with affection and wit on Pennsylvania slate. The stone featured John Updike’s signature in its many representations, including “Johnny” as he was known by his parents. Linda and Wesley Updike rested only inches from the headstone. Atop the monument Michael had carved an angel in the New England style, a face with wings. He cleverly carved his father’s smiling face showing that though he feared death all his life, he had a faith which would enable him to ascend, happily, to heaven. On the reverse of the stone Michael had cut both stanzas from Updike’s poem “Telephone Poles”. There was little doubt he still communicated with those assembled.
The gathering included the spouses of Miranda and David, many of their children, and one, Trevor, who bears his grandfather’s features to a remarkable degree. John Updike’s blood flowed in many veins. Also honoring John were his former classmates and lifelong friends Jackie Hirneisen Kendall and Joan Venne Youngerman; David Silcox, who had kept Updike abreast of Shillington news; Jack De Bellis, Alvernia University’s John Updike Scholar in Residence; and Patricia De Bellis. Continue reading
Andromeda Romano-Lax posted a blog entry on a website called 49 Writers that lists the books John Updike was reading at the time of his death in 2009—apparently in preparation for an unfinished novel he was writing.
Here’s the link.
The whole Society will gather in Boston in June 2012, but this year at ALA the two panels sponsored by the Society were full of great papers that provoked interesting discussions. Here are the minutes-5-28-2011-1 from the business meeting. They won’t be approved until the next meeting. Thanks to Judie Newman, Peter Bailey, Ed Allen, Brian Steffen, Richard Androne, Kangqin Li, John McTavish, and Quentin MIller for participating.
It’s official: the dates for the Second Biennial John Updike Society Conference at Suffolk University in Boston are June 13-16, 2012. Plan on getting to Boston the night of the 12th if you don’t want to miss anything. As with the first conference, there will be a combination of academic sessions and panels/talks from people who knew John Updike well. While field trips are still being arranged, the Houghton Library (pictured) will mount a special exhibit and host a reception for attendees, and we’ll spend an afternoon at Harvard seeing some of the Updike sites there. We’ll also take a trip to the North Shore to see Updike sites, with another trip to Salem that will tie in with panels on Updike and Hawthorne. We may also take a side trip to Fenway Park.
So mark your calendars and start thinking of what new research and insights you might share with members. Here’s the Call for Papers
Sylvie Mathé, Professor of American Literature at the Université de Provence, writes that the paper she presented on “Updike’s Lifetime Homage to Pennsylvania” at the Alvernia conference was reformatted as “In Memoriam,” an homage that was recently published in the online journal Transatlantica. Here’s the link to the full-text document.
The David Silcox/Thelma Lewis Collection was delivered to The John Updike Society Archive at Alvernia University in December, 2010, and on May 6, 2011 The Larry C. Randen Collection will be deposited with Alvernia archivist Eugene Mitchell, whom members met at the October conference.
According to Randen, the collection consists of “twelve Banker’s Boxes, four of which are books by and about Updike, plus movie DVDs, videos, CDs, and cassettes. The other eight boxes contain 24 three-inch and four-inch 3-ring notebooks with plastic protector sheets that contain reviews, articles, essays, etc. by and about Updike,” with a CD provided that contains much of the material.
Randen added, “There is a wealth of material in the collection that also includes a lot of photographs of Updike published after his death which I’ve printed out on glossy photographic paper. I have most of the caricatures of Updike done by David Levine (1926-2009) for The New York Review of Books, plus other comic likenesses done by Ken Fallin, Zach Trenholm, and other artists. I believe any interested inquirer paging through the file books will be in for some real surprises about the breadth of information gathered in them.”
Randen said he collected the material along with David Lull as co-researchers for The Centaurian website operated by James Yerkes. “I’m truly grateful my collection will join The David Silcox/Thelma Lewis Collection and the Rachael C. Burchard Papers as part of The John Updike Society Archives and other collections of Updike materials this concentration might attract in the future. It’s been a source of great personal satisfaction and enrichment to discover and preserve these literary artifacts for posterity,” Randen said.