Author John Updike dead at 76
Bobby Gates
Renowned novelist John Updike, 76, a longtime Massachusetts resident, succumbed to lung cancer, according to a statement from his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Inc.
Renowned novelist John Updike, 76, succumbed to lung cancer, according to a statement from his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Inc.
The author wrote more than 50 novels and won numerous awards, including the National Book Award and twice the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Updike had lived on an oceanfront estate in Beverly Farms, Mass., since 1982. His home there was described in the novel "Towards the End of Time." Prior to moving to Beverly Farms he had made his home in Ipswich, Mass., since the mid-1950s.
Updike rarely made public appearances in the city, but last month did tell the City Council he favored a conservation restriction for neighboring property, and in the late 1990s read before 200 people packed into the St. John's Episcopal Church — his church — as part of its concert series.