Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, John Updike, died on Tuesday due to Lung Cancer. Updike was acclaimed for depicting the drama in suburban American life while highlighting the sexual tensions of men in Post-war America through creative and cutting edge writing.
Nicholas Latimer of Alfred A. Knopf announced the news of Updike’s death expressing his admiration for Updike in providing portraits of American cultural figures. Updike lived in Massachusetts where he spent his time writing his novels, short stories, poems, art criticism and essays.
The topic of sex has been said to appear and reappear in Updike’s work, such as “A&P,” and has faced criticism due to the cultural currents at the time and role of sexuality in America. His series of novels about Harry Rabbit Angstrom, “Rabbit, Run” became two-time winners of the Pulitzer Prize and subject to editing by his publisher to avoid harsh criticism for being explicit.
John Updike’s writing career began at Harvard when he wrote for the humor magazine, “Harvard Lampoon,” followed by a full time position writing for the New Yorker. After this, Updike devoted his time to writing novels and short stories and teaching at Boston University. His novel, “The Witches of Eastwick” was an English favorite and inspired a movie adaptation featuring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Updike received awards in 1989 from President George H. W. Bush and 2003 from President George W. Bush. John Updike went from writing short stories to exploring book reviews and art criticism, leaving behind a literary legacy.