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John Updike Society president James Plath spent two weeks as a fall 2023 Quarry Farm Fellow working on an essay detailing how Twain modeled being a celebrity writer for both Hemingway and Updike. Plath conducted that research, but also felt compelled to write poems about the house and its inhabitants. Not surprisingly, Updike found his way into one of the poems:<\/p>\n
Carved Stone Troughs<\/strong><\/p>\n John Updike saw himself in a dogwood tree along the Farm on East Hill road, so spaced But when three of four children die before the father, funneling stone-cold grief into sage At Quarry Farm\u00a0<\/em>was published in June 2025 by Kelsay Books and is available from the publisher and Amazon. Society members wanting a copy and who also plan on attending the Roth-Updike Conference in NYC in October can email Plath (jplath@iwu.edu) to bring a copy there to save postage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Updike Society president James Plath spent two weeks as a fall 2023 Quarry Farm Fellow working on an essay detailing how Twain modeled being a celebrity writer for both Hemingway and Updike. Plath conducted that research, but also felt … Continue reading
\nhis parents planted the year he turned one.
\nParents do such things. Twain\u2019s jeu d\u2019esprit
\nled him to place four troughs in part-sun<\/p>\n
\nto revive tired horses, and with their carvings mark
\nthe birth of four Clemens\u2014who may have raced
\nlater to see whose was used, while dogs would bark.<\/p>\n
\nthose troughs become hollowed-out markers that bear
\nthe burden of emptiness, not crosses to inspire prayer
\nor reflection. It\u2019s a wonder that Twain continued to care,<\/p>\n
\nsatire, instead of yielding to alcohol and rage.<\/p>\n