Maria Lester, director of The John Updike Childhood Home, was honored for “extraordinary work as Education Director and Director” at the only museum dedicated to the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer and famous Berks County resident.

Lester, who co-directed the society’s 2014 conference in Reading, Pa., received the award at the Society Cafe during an Updike Society-sponsored reception for The Roth-Updike Conference in Greenwich Village, NYC, on Sunday, October 19, 2025.

In presenting the award, Updike Society president James Plath praised Lester for her initiatives in reaching out to educators, students, book clubs and other community organizations. Plath said he had spent a decade taking the lead in restoring the home to look as it did when young Updike lived there from 1932-45 and worked with Dave Silcox and others to find treasures to display in the museum. “It was my baby, but now it’s yours,” Plath said.

Plath praised Lester’s vision and added, with a smile, that the board actually had voted to honor her for her 10-plus years of service even before they learned that she had applied for and received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lester has been involved in some capacity with the house ever since it was purchased by nonprofit John Updike Society in 2012 with the goal of establishing it as something Shillington can be proud of, just as Updike was proud of Shillington.