On September 14, 2022 the Reading Education Foundation announced their grant awards for the year. Among the approved projects was one proposed by John Updike Childhood Home director Maria Lester titled “Teaching Berks County’s Native Son, John Updike.”

The grant will allow Lester, who teaches at Reading High School, to bring literature classes to the house in the fall and will cover transportation and admission costs. Congratulations to Maria and any thanks to the Reading Education Foundation for their support of area youths, literature, and the legacy of one of Berks County’s two literary giants (the other being Wallace Stevens). The John Updike Society, which owns and operates The John Updike Childhood Home, hopes that the young people who visit as a result of this grant will be inspired by the museum and their study of Updike to follow their own dreams, literary or otherwise.