Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Today's Word—Inklings

John Updike, 1932-2009

“I would write ads for deodorants or labels for catsup bottles, if I had to. The miracle of turning inklings into thoughts and thoughts into words and words into metal and print and ink never palls for me.”
—John Updike (1932-2009), Pulitzer Prize-winning
novelist and essayist, died yesterday at 76, 1967


“He used to say that when he wrote he was aiming for ‘a vague little spot a little to the east of Kansas.’ He became famous for his breathtaking descriptions, which could make anything — toilets, mudholes, worn carpet — seem oddly beautiful. In one of his short stories, he found God in a pigeon feather.”
—Joe Posanski, sportswriter, Kansas City Star, 1/27/09

“I’m a plugger. Even the way Rabbit sits in front of his Linotype machine day after day reminds me of myself, of the way I sit in front of the typewriter. Writing does not require any drive — it’s like saying a chicken requires drive to lay an egg.”
John Updike comparing himself to Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, 1972

(Click for NYTimes obit.)
(Click here for “John Updike: A Life in Letters” video interview.)
(See selected headlines on Updike.)

Today in History
1997: South African police admit to killing Stephen Biko; 1986: Space shuttle Challenge explodes on lift-off; 1973: Vietnam cease-fire; 1964: Soviets shoot down U.S. jet; 1959: Vince Lombardi hired as Packers coach;
1956: Elvis’ first TV appearance; 1916: Louis Brandeis appointed to Supreme Court; 1598: Sir Francis Drake dies off Panama
(See History.com)

3 comments:

  1. I had never heard of John Updike until I saw he died yesterday. I looked up some of his quotes and things he has accomplished in his life and I think it's safe to say he was a wonderful writer!!

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  2. My husband says I'll end up using my J degree to write prize winning menus for Micky D's -- I can relate. (Is it PC to say "my husband says?"

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  3. I did the same as Lauren.

    Sad I couldn't appreciate him in the moment.

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