John Updike R.I.P.

[Matthew]

CNN is saying that Updike died today. A great loss for American letters. Should have won a Nobel Prize at some point in his life.

[BruceH]

Woah. I knew he was getting up there, but...bit of a shock. He was just on NPR a few weeks ago.

RIP

[ghost of miles]

Yeah, a bit of a shock here, too--I think I assumed he was just going to keep kicking out a book a year for a few more decades. A writer I respected more than liked, but certainly sad news and a loss for American letters.

EDIT: AP obit, which says he died of lung cancer.

Edited January 27, 2009 by ghost of miles

[AndrewHill]

Shocked too. RIP.

[Shawn]

Pardon me for asking a moronic question, but what are "American Letters"?

[BillF]

A writer perhaps no longer in tune with today's world (and can he be blamed for that?), but whose Rabbit tetralogy gives him a permanent place in the annals of twentieth-century (and not just American) literature (or "letters", if you prefer!)

[Big Al]

Yeah, a bit of a shock here, too--I think I assumed he was just going to keep kicking out a book a year for a few more decades. A writer I respected more than liked, but certainly sad news and a loss for American letters.

Agreed on all points. Lots of people enjoyed his writing, and I read a couple of his books when I was in college, but they never really connected with me.

RIP nonetheless. Hopefully a Nobel will be posthumously awarded at some point.

[Tim McG]

John Updike was one of my most favorite poets.

In fact, I still use two of his poems in my class The Ex-Basketball Player and Lament for Cocoa.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Updike.

Edited January 27, 2009 by GoodSpeak

[BruceH]

Pardon me for asking a moronic question, but what are "American Letters"?

American Lit-Rah-Cha.

[Shawn]

Pardon me for asking a moronic question, but what are "American Letters"?

American Lit-Rah-Cha.

Gotcha. A term used to make one feel more important than a novelist.

[ghost of miles]

Interesting article in the NY Times:

John Updike's Archive: a Great Writer at Work

[J.A.W.]

Hopefully a Nobel will be posthumously awarded at some point.

Nobel prizes are only awarded to living persons.

Can't connect with him either, but a great loss nevertheless.