Author Archives: John Updike Society

Roemer and Constance McPhee honored for John Updike Childhood Home support

Roemer and Constance McPhee, whose support helped The John Updike Society to go all out and hire a historic restoration specialist to bring The John Updike Childhood Home in Shillington, Pa. back to the way it was when Updike lived … Continue reading →

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Work on the Updike house is moving along

Thanks to a $380,000 donation from The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation and $10,000 from the PECO Foundation, work has resumed on The John Updike Childhood Home restoration. Bob Doerr and his crew are now able to finish up the two remaining … Continue reading →

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New photos of John Updike Childhood Home restoration

Dave Silcox recently toured The John Updike Childhood Home and took a few pictures of the restoration-in-progress. Below are shots of the dining room, upstairs hallway (with newly extended wall, as described by Updike), and Updike’s bedroom showing the original … Continue reading →

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Paintin’ Place; progress made on Updike house restoration

The R. J. Doerr Co., who have been meticulously restoring The John Updike Childhood Home based on Updike’s descriptions and evidence inside the house, are at the point where all of the walls are being primed in preparation for painting … Continue reading →

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Phase 1 of Updike house restoration on schedule

Recently John Updike Society president Jim Plath and his adult son, Brian, drove to Wabash College (Indiana) to pick up the Kevin Schehr collection of John Updike and deliver it to The John Updike Childhood Home. While there, they did … Continue reading →

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Updike’s dogwood blooms again

Dogwoods of this type typically only last fifty years or so, but Updike’s dogwood is still going strong at The John Updike Childhood Home, 117 Philadelphia Ave., in Shillington. The side garden, planted by volunteers, is also starting to bloom. … Continue reading →

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Restoration, full speed ahead

Workers from R. J. Doerr are set up for some serious work in the parlor of The John Updike Childhood Home (top) and living room (top middle). They have already reinstalled a dining room door that had been converted into … Continue reading →

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Treasures found at John Updike Childhood Home

In the early ’40s, when John Updike was an adolescent growing up in Shillington, Pa., marbles were treasured by children who played a popular game indoors or outdoors in which a circle was drawn or formed with string, and every child … Continue reading →

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Schiff Family Foundation increases support of John Updike Childhood Home

With the R.J. Doerr Company making great progress on the historic restoration of The John Updike Childhood Home at 117 Philadelphia Ave. in Shillington, Pa., the Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation increased their support of The John Updike Society’s … Continue reading →

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Miranda Updike joins the JU Childhood Home board of directors

Miranda Updike today joined The John Updike Childhood Home board of directors. The board of directors for The John Updike Society, which owns The John Updike Childhood Home and is turning it into a museum, had voted to create a separate governing … Continue reading →

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