![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/files\/2023\/05\/Updikeplaquedetail.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe plaque, which was mounted next to the Caldwell Building entrance that Updike took to reach his second-floor office, reads: “From 1960 to 1974, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Updike had an office in the Caldwell Building, where he wrote many acclaimed literary works, including ‘A&P,’ Bech: A Book<\/em>, The Centaur<\/em>, Couples<\/em>, ‘Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,’<\/em> Midpoint<\/em>, A Month of Sundays<\/em>, Of the Farm<\/em> and Rabbit Redux<\/em>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Couples<\/em>, a 1968 novel, caused a stir in Ipswich because of its scandalous content: wife swapping. Some locals recognized themselves in the book, and the Updike family decided to spend the next year in London. Fittingly, there was just the slightest<\/em> hint of scandalous behavior at the plaque unveiling, as grandchildren Trevor and Sawyer Updike proudly posed alongside the plaque to show matching tattoos of the self-portrait caricature their grandfather had drawn to accompany his Paris Review<\/em> interview. The tattoos were on their thighs, which, of course, required that their trousers be dropped in order to show them off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trevor Meek covered the event for The Local News<\/em>. Read the full story and see photos of the event. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was a long time coming, and Linda George Grimes, the woman who spearheaded the campaign to honor John Updike with a plaque, was not there to see the fruits of her labors. She passed away in March at age … Continue reading