The inaugural conference of the John Updike Society recently took place
at Alvernia University in Reading, where scholars and enthusiasts
examined the author's relationship with his hometown, reports the Wall
Street Journal.
A remaining wall from the poorhouse that was the inspiration for the setting of Updike's first novel, "The Poorhouse Fair," can be found in Shillington, a tidy Reading suburb where Updike spent his early childhood. The sturdy 1812 Plowville farmhouse where he lived from ages 10 to 18 inspired "The Centaur" and "Of the Farm"; his second cousins now live there. The Plowville church features a prominent "Tothero" grave, a common area name borrowed for coach Marty Tothero of "Rabbit, Run."
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