John Updike dead at 76

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/27/author-john-updike-dies-at-76

John Updike, the prolific writer who was an enduring presence in post-war literature and a chronicler of the loves and losses of small-town America, has died of lung cancer aged 76.

His publishing house, Alfred Knopf, announced the death in a hospice in Massachusetts, saying Updike was "one of our greatest writers and he will be sorely missed."

RIP.

That's a shocker. I didn't realise he had lung cancer.

Oddly, just last week I read The Widows of Eastwick.

It takes me back to my sophomore year of college, when he came and spoke to one of my English classes. There were only about 20-30 of us, and he just sat on the floor among us and chatted for an hour.