Literary journalists around the city covered the John Updike memorial at the New York Public Library last week–recording how authors, editors, and family said goodbye to the great author.
The NY Observer essay captured the haunting opening to the service, a video tribute that brought the author back to his beloved library: “The lights went down at 7 p.m., and a moment later the screen onstage flickered awake to show the late author seated three years ago in the very same room, cheerfully discussing his writing with former New Yorker writer Jeffrey Goldberg.”
The Daily Beast collected quotes from the esteemed literary guests at the service, including memories from New Yorker editor David Remnick and author ZZ Packer. Updike’s son David had the final word: “Among the last books he was reading was ‘Dreams From My Father’ by Barack Obama. He read it in bed, in a sunny room, overlooking the ocean, and I believe, for him, it was especially poignant, trying to catch up on history he was about to miss, a ship that was about to leave the port without him.”