Conan O’Brien insists he’s running for president in 2012, and recently his blog revived a May 26, 2011 post we all missed about an O’Brien-Updike connection.
Interestingly, both O’Brien and Updike served as president of the Lampoon while at Harvard. But that’s not the connection. Here’s the link. Thanks to member Larry C. Randen for calling it to our attention. And Conan, if you’re reading this, how about commenting here about what Updike told you?
In response to members who said they were swamped this time of the year, program director Bernard F. Rodgers, Jr. has extended the deadline for abstracts/proposals for the Second Biennial John Updike Society Conference. The conference, which will be held June 12-16 at Suffolk University in Boston, opens with a keynote address by Joyce Carol Oates on the evening of the 12th and features tours to Updike sites in Ipswich and Boston (including the Lampoon, pictured) and Hawthorne sites in Salem.
Here is the original Call for Papers, which are now due on January 16.
James Schiff, editor of The John Updike Review, reports that the very first issue has begun shipping. The issue is free with membership, though there’s also a special edition hardcover version, with slipcase, available for those who are interested.
“I’m pleased with our inaugural issue,” Schiff writes. “We have a mix of essays, academic and belletristic, as well as tributes and reviews from scholars, novelists, short story writers, and poets. Further, and in line with Updike’s thinking when it came to making books, we have aimed high in regard to aesthetics: design elements, photographs, art, quality and care of the editing. We hope our readers will be pleased.” Email Jim (james.schiff@uc.edu) for more information, or for ordering extra copies of the journal or the special edition. Otherwise, keep checking your mailbox!
Jack De Bellis, the John Updike Professor in Residence at Alvernia University and a director of The John Updike Society, will lecture on “Rabbit at Rest in Shillington” at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 10, at the Franco Library, Alvernia University, in Reading, Pennsylania.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the 2011 Greater Reading Literary Festival at Alvernia.
De Bellis, who is Professor Emeritus at Lehigh University, is the author or editor of numerous books on John Updike, including the indispensable John Updike Encyclopedia.
Joyce Carol Oates, who was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2010, will deliver the keynote address at the Second Biennial John Updike Society Conference in Boston on Tuesday, June 12, at 8 p.m. at host institution Suffolk University.
Like Updike, Oates has published in multiple genres (novel, short fiction, memoir, children’s books, plays, essays, criticism) and is considered one of the most important writers of her generation. She’s earned much praise and many awards for her fiction, including the PEN/Malamud Award and the O. Henry Prize for her achievements in short fiction, a National Book Award for her novel Them, and the 2004 Fairfax Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Literary Arts.
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.
Radical History Review Volume 2011, Number 111, Fall 2011 features essays on the theme of “Historicizing 9/11,” and member Bob Batchelor has an essay in it titled “Literary Lions Tackle 9/11: Updike and DeLillo Depicting History through the Novel.” You can access it and get a free full-text download here. In his essay, Batchelor considers how Updike’s “on-the-scene reporting gave his words added consequence,” with his “description of the horror and of his personal response” providing readers with “an additional tool to process the events.”
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