There’s no question: the docents at The John Updike Childhood Home are a knowledgeable and talented bunch. Have a look at their bios on the johnupdikechildhoodhome.com site and you’ll see why tour groups love them so much.

A number of docents have published books, but the most recent is Unique Stories in Berks County, by Susan Atkins Weiser. The softcover 8×11 volume features 25 stories of Berks County, including Little Miss Coney Island, Hail Miss Reading of 1924, John Wilkes Booth in Reading, The Pomeroy Country Club, The Creation and Unveiling of the Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Sulkie’s Shine at Shillington Speedway, The Orpheum Theater, Blue Ribbon Pretzels, The Fedden Brothers in Shillington, Edna Phillips (the first lady of the orchestra), Benjamin H. Zehr (the movie theatre mogul). Cover price is $25.

Members of The John Updike Society who attended the 3rd Biennial Conference in Reading might be interested to read about the Abraham Lincoln, our conference hotel, and Updike fans will likely be interested to read the piece on The Berks County Almshouse, which inspired Updike’s first novel, The Poorhouse Fair. On display inside The John Updike Childhood Home are a number of things related to that novel, including a coffee table crafted from two shutters that a former Updike classmate rescued when the building was demolished and later donated it to the society.

Susan will docent next on June 15 from 12-2 p.m. and will undoubtedly be happy to talk about the book and answer any questions.