{"id":6894,"date":"2026-02-09T20:45:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/?p=6894"},"modified":"2026-02-09T20:45:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T02:45:51","slug":"atlas-obscura-maps-john-updikes-headstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/2026\/02\/09\/atlas-obscura-maps-john-updikes-headstone\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlas Obscura maps John Updike’s headstone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Atlas Obscura<\/em> recently added a location for the “Headstone of John Updike<\/a>; A unique tombstone, lovingly made by the author’s son, honors his literary talents.”<\/p>\n

“Nestled in a churchyard in the small Pennsylvanian town of Mohnton, a peculiar gravestone stands out among the sturdy and square monuments of modern times. The black slate stone is an uncanny homage to the early grave markers of Puritan New England. It even includes a death’s head motif, but with a twist. Instead of a gaunt, ghastly skull with wings, it features the wide, smiling face of the interred: author John Hoyer Updike. . . .<\/p>\n

“His unique headstone was carved by his son, Michael. In an interview<\/a>\u00a0with Northshore Magazine<\/em>, he remarks on his father\u2019s fear of death, which prompted him to capture his grin indefinitely.\u00a0 John\u2019s different monikers fill the empty space in an easygoing, curling script. Michael even inscribed one of John\u2019s early poems on the backside. It reads:<\/p>\n

Why the Telephone Wires Dip and the Poles Are Cracked and Crooked<\/p>\n

The old men say
\n<\/em>young men in gray
\n<\/em>hung this thread across our plains
\n<\/em>acres and acres ago
\n<\/em>But we, the enlightened, know
\n<\/em>in point of fact it\u2019s what remains
\n<\/em>of the flight of a marvelous crow
\n<\/em>no one saw:
\n<\/em>each pole, a caw.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The headstone is not only a touching tribute to a father and author, but to a man\u2019s undying love of New England and its iconography.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlas Obscura recently added a location for the “Headstone of John Updike; A unique tombstone, lovingly made by the author’s son, honors his literary talents.” “Nestled in a churchyard in the small Pennsylvanian town of Mohnton, a peculiar gravestone stands … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":818,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,16,75,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-berks-county-news","category-in-memoriam","category-updike-family","category-updike-quoted"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/818"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6897,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6894\/revisions\/6897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/johnupdikesociety\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}