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• Poet, literary critic and Pulitzer Prize winning author John Updike died at the age of 76 on Tuesday, January 27, 2009. His publisher issued a statement saying that Updike had died of lung cancer at a hospice in Massachusetts.KTAR.com: John Updike, Prize-Winning Writer, Dead at age 76 (January 27, 2009)Boston.com: Acclaimed Writer John Updike Dies at 76 (January 27, 2009)

  Updike published over 50 books during his career, including collections of essays, poems and criticisms beginning in the 1950s.KTAR.com: John Updike, Prize-Winning Writer, Dead at age 76 (January 27, 2009)Random House: John Updike Updike's highly acclaimed Rabbit series of novels about an ex-high school basketball star named "Harry 'Rabbit' Angstron" spanned over 30 years.KTAR.com: John Updike, Prize-Winning Writer, Dead at age 76 (January 27, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Given Name: John Hoyer Updike
  2. Born: March 18, 1932
  3. Died: January 27, 2009
  4. Cause of death: Lung cancerKTAR.com: John Updike, Prize-Winning Writer, Dead at age 76 (January 27, 2009)
  5. Birthplace: Reading, PennsylvaniaBarnes & Noble: Meet the Writers: John Updike
  6. Resided in Beverly Farms, MassachusettsBarnes & Noble: Meet the Writers: John Updike
  7. Children: Elizabeth, David, Michael, Miranda
  8. Literary Genre: Literary Fiction, Literary Criticism
  9. Graduated from Harvard University in 1954Barnes & Noble: Meet the Writers: John Updike
  10. Awards include the two Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, the Rosenthal Award and the Howells MedalRandom House: John Updike
  11. Was on the staff of The New Yorker from 1955 to 1957Random House: John Updike
  12. Published over 50 booksRandom House: John Updike

• Career

  After being encouraged by his mother to write, Updike entered Harvard University on a full scholarship and graduated summa cum laude. After a brief flirtation with graphic arts following graduation, Updike worked for two years at The New Yorker - a magazine that published hundreds of his short stories, articles, essays, and reviews over the last forty years. Like Philip Roth, Updike has written a series of novels with recurring, semi-autobiographical characters, such as his Rabbit books and his short stories which feature The Maples.

• Notable Works

  • 1981: Rabbit Is Rich
  • 1990: Rabbit At Rest
  • 2003: The Early Stories 1953—1975
  • 2008: Terrorist

• "Perfection Wasted"

  • "And another regrettable thing about death
  • is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
  • which took a whole life to develop and market —
  • the quips, the witticisms, the slant
  • adjusted to a few...
  • The jokes over the phone. The memories
  • packed in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
  • Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
  • imitators and descendants aren't the same.""—John UpdikeJudith Pordon: [http://judithpordon.tripod.com/poetry/john_updike_perfection_wasted.html "Perfection Wasted'}

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